#for humanas estar at hese bedis hed Gutenty bokis l-clad in blak ar red Of Aristotle %& his philesa-phie hun robis zucke phan ale rele Sates ies EEE ESA SE ESE SEIN, EISBN GOES SONS 5) Baldwin bey ° 505, oe 297 ATURE A WEEKLY ILLUSTRATED JOURNAL OF SCIENCE VOLUME XXI. NOVEMBER 1879 to APRIL 1880 “.To the solid ground Of Nature trusts the mind which builds for aye.”—WoRDSWORTH aaaaeeeeeeeeeeEeEeEeEEOEeeEEeEeEEeEeEeEEOeyeyeeEeEy—EEE—- London and Reto Pork: MACMILLAN AND CO. 1880 en.’ V ; ’ ; % , td nits llii Ane Vy . Ma)! ra ah ““* Hy See Sateen Py aeons : TERE EVE : tee : «Ser, [ ve * , , os. » id . > ‘ a‘ . F P rad ear? _—< +; ’ Axsay (Rey. R.), a Consolidated Beach in Ceylon, 184 Abercromby (Hon. Ralph), the Tay Bridge Storm, 443, 502 Abich (Dr.), his Petrographical Descriptions of the Caucasian Regions, 287 _ Abney (Capt., F.R.S.), on the Photographic Method of Mapping ___ the Least Refrangible End of the Solar Spectrum, 267 ' Abruzzi, Existence of the Chamois in the, 240 _ Absorption of Gases, on the Nature of, Dr. S. Wroblewski, 190 _ Ackroyd (William), Change in Apparent Position of Geometrical _ Figures, 108 ; on the Eye as an Automatic Photometer, 627 ** Acoustico-Electrical Kaleidoscope,” M. Michelangiolo Monti’s, . 359 ae Valley (Moravia), Discovery of a Stalactite Cavern in, _ Aéronautics : Balloon Accident, 71; Baumgartner’s Navigable Balloon, 549; Ballooning in France, 575 _ Afghan Ethnology, A. H. Keane, 276 Africa: Belgian Expedition, 73; the South African Public Library, 115; the Abbé Debaize’s Expedition, 190; Dr. Junker’s Expedition, 216; Dr. Rohlfs’ Expedition, 241 ; ‘French Stations in, 242; Mr. Hore’s Explorations, 242; Ascent of the River Binué, 266, 504 ; Dr. Holub’s Exploration of, 288, 310; Dr. Bradshaw’s Exploration of the Zambesi, 288 ; the East African Expedition, 331, 455 ; German African Society, 360; ‘‘Africa Past and Present,” 368; French Missions to Northern, 385 ; Ivens and Capello’s Exploration of Angola, 455 ; Stanley’s Congo Expedition, 455 ; Mook and Holzhausen’s Journey in, 455; German Grants to African Research, 456 ; J. W. Moir’s Expedition, 505 ; James Stewart’s _ Exploration of, 527; the Second Belgian Expedition, 550; Masasi and Rovuma District, 577 gassiz (Prof, Alex), the Antiquity of Oceanic Basins, 587 Agostini’s Experiments with Mercury, 526 en Earthquake at, 215 \griculture : Agricultura! College, Cirencester, Rev. J. Brown _ Maclellan elected Principal of, 162; ‘‘ The Science of Agri- — culture,” J. B. Fuller, 2co; Principles of Agriculture, S. Tomlinson, 466; New College of, 523, 547; Farming for Pleasure and Profit, Artbur Roland, 534 Air, the Temperature of, at various levels, L. Hajnis, 176 **Air at the Equator, why it is not hotter in January than in oye. A. Woeikof, 249 Akhal-Tekkes, the, 455 Albumen and Fat, 618 Alge, 282 Algeria: Exploration of, 216, 239; Algerian Company for Cultivating the Sahara, 424; Algerian Scientific Association, 474; Rainfall in, 549 Algiers, Observatory of, 263 Allen (J. Romilly), a Museum Conference, 468, 515 Alloys, Copper-Tin, W. Chandler Roberts, F.R.S., 272 Alpine Flowers, Fertilisers of, Dr. Hermann Miiller, 275 Alston (E, R.), Mammalia of Scotland, 609 Alternative Interpretation of Sensation, Fred. D. Brown, 177 \lum Bay, the Fossil Flora of, Baron Ettingshausen, 555; J. _ Starkie Gardner, 588 -\Mlumayf, Who was Prince? A. H. Keane, 61 mblystoma punctatum, Development of, 454 \merica : North, Prof. Geikie, F.R.S., on the Geology of, 67; the New French Cable for, 307 ; American Academy of Arts and Sciences, 196, 460, 532; American Journal of Science _ and Arts, 50, 122, 267, 361, 458, 626; American Naturalists, ENDEA 50, 122, 314, 458; American Quarterly Microscopical Journal, 50; American Arctic Exploring Expedition, proposed, 310; American Biology, Central, 321; American Entomologist, 441, 626; American Geological Surveys, 476; Catalogue of Official Reports, 332; American Sea-Side Laboratory, Prof. E, Ray Lankester, F.R.S., 497; se¢ also United States, &c. Ampére, proposed Statue to, 89 Amu-darya Expedition, the, 22 Amu-darya and Caspian Sea, proposed connection of, 216 Anatomical Model, Prof. Riidinger’s, 306 Anatomy, an Atlas of, by Mrs, Fenwick Miller, 9 Anchor-ice, Dr. J. Rae, 538; Allan Macdougall, 612 Ancients, Natural History of the, Rev. W. Houghton, M.A., 151 Anderson (Richard), ‘‘ Lightning-conductors, their History, Nature, and Mode of Application,” 415 Andrews (Dr. Thomas, F.R.S.), proposed Testimonial to, 162, 381 “* Angler’s Note: book and Naturalist’s Record,” 263 Animals, Mind in the Lower, by W. Lauder Lindsay, M.D., 8 Animals and the Musical Scale, Dr. W. Pole, F.R.S., 11 Animal Heat of Fishes, 156 “* Animal Life,” Dr, E, Perceval Wright, 232 Animal Kingdom, diffusion of Copper in, Dr. T, H. Norton, 305; Prof. Léon Fredericq, 370 Annalen der Physik und Chemie, 27, 122, 218, 289, 361, 530 Annales de ]’Extréme Orient, 360 Annuaire for Turkestan, 22 Ansdell (Gerrard), the Physical Constants of Liquid Hydro- chloric Acid, 387 Antarctic Expedition, proposed Italian, 578, 598 Anthony (Edwyn), a Feat of Memory, 562 Anthracite, a Valuable Bed of, at Ching-mén-chow, 307 Anthropology: Anthropological Instimte, 99, 195, 291, 363, 435, 459, 483, 555; Anthropological Society of Paris, Felyx- enys-Rapontayabo’s letter to, 19 ; Anthropological Discovery at Sypniewo by Herr Wilckens, 216; Removal of Barnard Davis’s Anthropological Collection to the Royal College of Surgeons’ Museum, 329; Recent Progress in, Dr. B. Tylor, F.R.S., 380; German Exhibition of, 595 Antimony, the Atomic Weight of, 554 Ants, the ‘‘ Parasol,” of Texas: how they cut and carry Leaves : Origin of Castes by Evolution, G. T. Bettany, 17 Arago, Dr, Janssen on, 418 Aralo-Caspian Basin, Geology and Physical Geography of, 577 ** Aratus’ Skies and Weather Forecasts,’ 329 Archives des Sciences Physique et Naturelles, 28, 362, 459, 530 Archibald (E. Douglas), a Correction, 131; Sunshine Cycles, 393 Arctic Exploration : Capt. Howgate’s Proposed Expedition, 11, 526; the Swedish North-east Passage Expedition, 37, 57, 326; Proposed Submarine Expedition, 550 Ardennes, Tertiary Quartzites of the, 164 Argacus, Mount, Eruption of, 620 Argentina, Uranometria, 240 Aryyll (Duke of), Ice-crystals, 274, 368 Aristotle, on certain Errors respecting the Structure of the Heart attributed to Prof, Huxley, F.K.S., 1 : Arithmetic, Strange, 468 Armstrong (Prof, Henry F., F.R.S.), Dissociation of Chlorine, Bromine, and Todine, 461; the Density of Chlorine, 561 Arrow Heads, Stone, 613 A lV Artificial Diamonds, Dr. R. Sydney Marsden, 445 Artus (Dr. Wilibald), Death of, 451 Arsenic in Animals, 94 1’ Arsonval’s (M.), Sugzestion for the Improvement of Planté’s Secondary Batteries, 409 Artisan Reports on the Paris Exhibition of 1878, Prof. Silvanus P, Thompson, 397 Aryan Tribes of India, 598 « Asia Minor,” in the ‘* Encyclopedia Britarn’c?,” $2 Asia, Eastern, the Climate of, Dr. H. F ritsche, 175 Asia, Central, the Races of,- 266 Asiatic Society of Japan, Zransactions, 264 Astronomy: our Astronomical Column, 20, 71, 91, 117, I41, 164, 240, 264, 286, 307, 331, 359, 383, 453, 475» 502, 525; 575, 597, 618; School of, at the Observatory of Paris, 19; to. Astronomers, Lord Lindsay, 106; Rev. J. Challis’ ‘© Practical Astronomy,” 105; “ Bulletin des Sciences Mathe- matiques et Astronomiques,” 152; Astronomical Subject- Index, J. L. E. Dreyer, 154 ; new journal of Astronomy and Meteorology, ‘Ciel et Terre,” 424; French School of Astronomy, 452; a Bibliography of Astronomy, 453; Prof, Thury on Astronomical Observations, 474 Astrophytida and Ophiuride of the Challenger Expedition, Theodore Lyman, 513 Atlantic, the Temperatures of the, 142 Atmospheric Electricity, the ob-erving of, 72 Atthey (Thomas), Death of, 616 Atti della R. Accademia dei Lincei, 530, 573 ‘* Audiphone,” Rhodes, 243, 469 ; Prof, Colladon on, 426; Thos. Fletcher, 515 Andition, Binaural, Prof. Silvanus Thompson's Monograph on, 21; Experiments relating to, 310 Aurore : J. Rand Capron, 127; Catalogue of, 384; Aurora at Last, Prof. Piazzi Smyth, 492; Auroral Response in America, Prof. Piazzi Smyth, 609 Austral Islands, Land Shells of the, 108 Australian Colonies, Infantile Mortality in our, 48 Australia, Western, Demand for Flax grown in, 141; Mr, Alex. Forrest in, 165 ; Discovery of Coal in, 264 Australia, South, Meteorology of, 281 “ Australasia,” A. R. Wallace’s, A. Hart Everett, 535 3_A. R. Wallace, 562 Austria-Hunyary, Rainfall of, Dr. Hann, 385 Austria, Cave Exploration in, 4573 Tumuli in, 457 Ayrton (Mrs. Chapliz), M.D. Degree /from the Medical Faculty of Paris, 162 Ayrton (W. E.) and John Perry on Seeing by Electricity, 589 Azimuth, New Modes of showing Different Characteristics over Small Arcs in, from the Lighthouse Apparatus, T, Stevenson, 156 Balfour (Dr. I. B.) appointed Naturalist to the Socotra Expe- dition, 237; News from, 381; his Exploration of Socotra, 504, 515; Return from Socotra, 616 Ball (V.), Notes on the Papuans of Maclay Coast, New Guinea, 251; Jungle Life in India, 373 Balloons: Accident to a, 71; Baumgartner’s Navigable, 549; Ballooning in France, 575 : Balmain’s Luminous Paint, 576 Barbadoes, Science in, 548 Barometer, on the Construction of a New Glycerine, 377 Barometrical Variations in India, S. A. Hill, 513 Barrett (Prof. W. F.), Novel Source of Frictional Electricity, 417; the Loud-speaking Telephone, 483 ; Trevelyan Kocker, 426, 507 Barrett (S. T.), Ice-Crystals or Filaments, 537 Barrington-Kennett (V. B.), the Paces of the Horse, 107 Barrois (Dr. Charles), Tertiary Quartzites of the Ardennes, 164; Marbre Griotte, 165 Barton (Bolling W.), Stags’ Horns, 325 Bastian (Prof,), his Arrival at Batavia, 216 atavia, Prof. Bastian’s Arrival at, 216 Batteries, Planté’s Secondary, M. d’Arsonyal’s Suggestion for the Improvement of, 409 Bauke (Dr. H.), of Berlin, Death of, 262 Beach, Note on a Consolidated, in Ceylon, Rev. R. Abbay, 184 Bedford (Henry), Sun-Spots, 276 Bees: and Centipedes, 12; Lufectious Disease among, ing Entrapped Moths, 308 163; Eat- - INDEX Neen ee eee ee eee ee EE [Nature, May 27, 1880 Beet-root, Manufacture of Me hyl Chloride from, Prof, C. Vincent, 355 Begbie (Major Elphinstone), Intel'ect in Brutes, 325 Belgium : Belgian State Prize awarded to M. Houzeau, 162; Geology of, 425; Dr. Michel Mourlon on the Geology of, 287; Annual Public Stace of the Belgian Academy, 407 ; Prizes of the, 548; ‘‘ Bibliotheca Belgica,” 215; Devonian Rocks of, Prof. Malaise, 576 Bell (Graham), Prix de Volta awarded to, 329 Bell (Thomas, (F.R.S.), Death 6f, 473; Obituary Notice of, 499 Bellew (H. W.), on Kafiristan, 427 Benson (C.), the Saidapet Experimental Farm Manual and Guide, 54 Bentley (Kobert) and Trimen’s Medicinal Plants, 416 Berlin: ‘‘ Geographentaz” at, 73; International Piscicultural Exhibition, 163; Berlin Geographical Society, 242, 4773 Zeitschrift, 266, 386;, German Antbropological Congress at, 285; Berlin Society of Commercial Geography, 427; Elee- trical Railway in, 473, 501 Bernier’s (M. Théodore) ‘Dictionnaire Géographiqne, Histo- rique, Archéologique, Biographique, et Bibliographique du Hainault,” 360 Berrot (M.), Death of, 357 Berwick (Dr. George), Lunar Rings, 33, 155 Bettany (G, T.), the ‘‘ Parasol” Ants of Texas; how They Cut and Carry Leaves ; Origin of Castes by Evolution, 17; the Cambridge Natural Sciences Tripos, 86 Beynen (Koolemans) Death of, 92 Bibliography: Catalogue of Scientific Serials, Mr. S. H. Scudder’s New, 89; an Astronomical Bibliography, 453 Biela Comet Meteors, 71, 240 Biermann (Adolf), Death of, 548 Binary Stars, Orbits of, 141 Biaaural Audition, Prof. Silvanus Thompson’s Monograph on, 21; Experiments Relating to, 310 Biology: Biological Notes, 93, 249, 308, 453; ‘* Centrali- Americana,” F. Duncan Godman and Osbert Salvin, 321 ; a New Biological Atlas, 262 ; the Destruction of Insect Pests an — Unforseen Application of the Results of Biological Investiga- tion, Prof, E. Ray Lankester, F.R.S., 447 ; Studies from the Laboratory ofthe Johns Hopkins University, 618 Bird (C.), ** Lecture Notes on Physics,” 153 Birds: British, the Zémes on, 260; Moore’s Ornithological Tables, 440; the Song of Birds, 590, 612 Birmingham Natural History and Microscopical Society, Annual Meeting of, 358; Conversazione of the, 424; Philosophical — Society, Proceedings, 452 ; the Endowment of Research at, 487 Bischofsheim (M.), his New Observatory at Nice, 19, 407 Bjerknes’s (M.) Theory of Electricity and Magoeti-m, 72 Blanford (H. F.) on the Barometric See-Saw between Russia and India in the Sun-Spot Cycle, 477 Blanford (W. T.), the Himalayan Ranges, 442 Bleaching, Improvements in, 14 j Bleekrode (Prof. L.), a Lecture Experiment on Ice-Crystals, 444 — Blomefield (L., Za¢e Jenyns), Scale of Colour, 201 Blood-Corpuscles, the Coloured, of the Frog, 453 “« Blowpipe Analysis,” J. Landauer, 392 [ Blowpipe ‘‘Flame,” Electricity of the, Col, W. A. Ross, 275; F H. M‘Leod, F.R.S., 347 Blunt (Wilfrid S.), his Account of a Journey to Nejd, 142 Bock (Carl), Exploration in Borneo, 241, 468 Bod (Lewis), Carnivorous Wasps, 538 Boilers, the Safety-Valves of, 189 oa Boisduval (Dr.), Death of, 451 Boll (Prof. Franz), Death of, 214 Bologna, Monument to Galvani in, 47 Bolton’s Natural History Discoveries, 81 Bombay, Severe Thunderstorm in Dharwar, 616 Bon’s (M. Le) Observations on Skulls, 285 Bone-Sucking—a Habit of Cattle, W. Frazer, J. Le Conte, 12 Bonwick (James), ‘‘ Who are the Irish?” A. H. Keane, 464, 563 Borneo : Exploration in, Carl Bock, 241, 468; Negritoes in, A. Hart Everett, 588; the Caves of, 627 Bosnia and Herzegovina, Geology of, 426 3oston (U.S.): and Harvard, 149; Society of Natural History, Proceedings of, 243, 501; American Academy of Arts and Sciences, 532 any : List of Works on Commercial, 115 ; Study of, at the oyal Gardens, Kew, 262; Botanical Garden at Hakodate, _ Japan, 357; Proposed Botanisches Centralblatt, 382; Bo- _ tanische Jahrbiicher, 474; Unintelligible Descriptions in Botanical Writings, 548; Dr. N. J. C. Miiller’s Handbook _ of Botany, 559 . ‘Bottomley (J. T.), Flow of Viscous Materials—a Model Glacier, mex Boulek Museum, Robbery of a Collection belonging to, 140 ‘Bournemouth, the Eocene Flora of, J: Starkie Gardner on, 181 “ Bractee,” Discovery of so-called, 286 Brault’s (M. L.) Wind-Charts, 265 Briangon, Meteorological Observatory, 452 Bristol Museum and Library, 525 British Museum, John Miers’s Bequest to, 71 Broca (Dr.), Elected a Life Member of the French Senate, 356 _ Brodie (Sir B. C.), Dissociation of the Metalloid Elements, 491 Bromine, Chlorine, and Iodine, Dissociation of, Prof. Henry E. _ Armstrong, F.R.S., 461 : Broun (J. Allan, F.R.S.), Death of, 89 ; Obituary Notice of, Prof. Balfour Stewart, F.R.S., 112 Broun (Wm. Le Roy), Ice-Filaments, 589 Brown (F. D.), Subject-Indexes, 10; Alternative Interpretation of Sensation, 177 ; the Density of Chlorine, 513 Brown (Dr. Robert), ‘‘ The Countries of the World,” 346 Brown (W.), Intellect in Brutes, 397 - Brown Institution Lectures, 115 Brunton (Dr. Lauder, F.R.S.), ‘Medicine Past and_ Present,” Io 4 tes, Intellect in, ‘‘ Lindsay’s Mind in the Lower Animals,” _ 8; James Turnbull, 12: S. E. Peal, 34; Sophie Frankland, 82; C. F. Crehore, 132; Commander J. P. Maclear, 250; Francis E. Colenso, 251; W. Thompson, 324 ; J. R. Gregory, _ 324; Major Elphinstone Begbie, 325; T. E. Wilcox, 372; _ Alex, Mackennal, 397 ; W. Brown, 397, 494 - Buchanan (John), Series of Force due to a Small Magnet, 370, 44: Zz Bulle Pesth, University of, Centenary of, 549 Biihler (Georg), ‘‘ The Sacred Laws of the Aryas,” 77 Bulletin de Académie Royale des Sciences de Belgique, 51, » 218, 362, 530, 578 _ Bulletin of the United States Geological and Geographical Sur- _ _ vey of the Territories, 51 Bulletin des Sciences Mathématiques et Astronomiques, 152 _ Bunsen, Grease-Spot Photometer, Improvement in, 309 _ Burial-Mounds of Florida, ‘‘ Finds” in the, 596 Burial-Places, Ancient, in Tennessee, 501 Burmah, Exploration of, 428 - Burnham (S. W.), Double-Star Observations at Chicago, 53 _ Butter, Methed for Distinguishing Natural from Artificial, 306 Butterflies, on the Sexual Colours of Certain, Chas. Darwin, OVER.) 237 _ Calcite, on the Crystallography of, J. R. McD. Irby, 200 _ Calderon (Don Salvador), on Petrography in Spain, 165 California, ‘‘ Lick Observatory,” 47, 91 _ Cambridge, Natural Science at, 26; Health of, 26; the Natu- ral Sciences Tripos at, G. T. Bettany, 86; New Statutes, 146; Philosophical Society, 460 Canada Monthly Weather Review, 503 _ Canal Saint Martin, Ice on, 307 Candolle (Alph, de), oa Unintelligible Descriptions in Botanical Works, 548 ; Capello and Ivens, Arrival of, at Loanda, 118 Capillary Electroscope, G. Gore, F.R.S., on the, 194 Capitaine (M.), Death of, 361 _ Capper (Samuel J.), Tidal Phenomenon in Lake Constance, 397 Capron (J. Rand), Aurorz, 127 . Carbon and Water Figures, W. M. Flinders Petrie, 225 Carbonic Acid, does Chlorophyll Decompose? Pref. E. Ray Lankester, F.R.S., 557 _ “Carboniferous Limestone and Cefn-y-Fedw Sandstone of the Country between Llanymynech and Minera, North Wales,” George H. Morton, I°.G.S., 105 Carlsberg Laboratory, Copenhagen, 306 Carlsruhe, Shocks of Earthquake at, 3c6, 408 Carniola, Prehistoric Stations in, F. von Hochstetter and Ch. -Deschmann on, 192 Carnivorous Wasps, Sir David Wedderburn, Bart., 417; R. S. - ‘ é A a ‘+ re, May 27, 1880] INDEX v Newall, F.R.S., 494; Lewis Bod, 538; Worthington G. Smith, 563 Carpenter (Lant), the Application of Electricity to the Purposes of Practical Life in the United States, 116 — (Dr. W. B., F.R.S.), the Antiquity of Oceanic Basins, 9 Carre’s Cast-Iron Magnets, 359 Carrie (Pére), on Stanley’s Expedition, 360 Caspian Sea and the Amu-Darya, Proposed Connection of, 216 Ca:sell’s Natural History, Edited by P. Martin Duncan, F.R.S., 135 Cast-Iron Magnets, M. Carré’s, 359 Castlenau (Count de), Death of, 500 Cataloguing, Subject, 525 Caucasian Region, Dr. Abich’s Petrographical Descriptions of 287 Caudal Disk, E, H. Pringle, 34 Cave Exploration in Austria, 457 Caves, a ‘‘ Verein fiir Héhlenkunde,” 285 Cedar of Lebanon in Cyprus, 93 Celestial Photometry, 23 Cell, the Primeval, 332 Cement for Glass, Herr H. Schwarz, 360 Centipedes and Bees, 12 Centrifugal Force, Proposed Uses of, 526 Cerebration, Unconscious, Hyde Clarke, 81 Ceylon, Note on a Consolidated Beach in, Rev. R. Abbay, 184 Chalk, Kent, Vertical Shafts in the, 13; F.C. Spurrell, 66 Challenger Expedition, the Ophiuridz and Astrophytide of the, Theodore Lyman, 513 Challis’s ‘‘ Practical Astronomy,” 105 Fi Chambers (F.), Meteorological Phenomena of India, 384 Chamois, Existence of in the Abruzzi, 240 Chappell (Wm.), Hearing through the Mouth, 250 Charnay (Désiré), his Explorations in Australia, 288 Charry (Chintamanay Ragoonatha), Death of, 451 Chatelherault, Falling Stars Observed at, 90 Chemistry : Chemical Society, 51, 123, 171, 218, 290, 434, 459, 507, 555, 603; Research Fund, 114, 423; Anniversary Meetiny, 624; “‘Grundriss der Chemischen Technologie,” Dr. Juls Post, 55; ‘* Year-book of Chemical Technology,” 79 ; Chemical Repulsion, Edmund J. Mills, F.R.S., 290; Chemical Equilibrium, MM. Pattison Muir, 516 Chesapeake Sea-side Laboratory, 497 Chevallier (Jean Baptiste Alphonse), Obituary Notice of, 132 Chicago, Double Star Observations at, S. W. Burnham, 53 Chili, a New Geography of, 386 Chimborazo, Mount, Whymper’s Ascent of, 620 China: Earthquake in, 12; Grand Canal, 360; J. H. Riley’s Explorations in, 455; G. F. Eaton’s Exploration of, 526; Woollen Manufactory in, 617 Chinese Goose, Fertility of Hybrids from, Chas, Darwin, F.R.S., 207 ; Lewis Wright, 302 Chinese Placard regarding the Consumption of Cow’s Milk, Translation of, 187 Ching-Mém-chow, Bed of Anthracite at, 307 Chloral Hydrate, the Dissociation of Gaseous, 424 Chlorine, Bromine, and Iodine, Dissociation of, Prof. Henry E. Armstrong, F.R.S,, 461 Chlorine, the Density of, Fred D, Brown, 513; Prof. Henry E. Armstrong, F.R.S., 561 Chlorophyll, the Functions of, Sydney H. Vines, 85; does it Decompose Carbonic Acid? Prof. E. Ray Lankester, F.R.S., 557 : Chromatics, Modern, Prof. Ogden N. Rood, 78, 395 Chronological History of Plants, Prof. A. H, Sayce, 104 Chronometers, Prizes for the Best, 524 Church Missionary Society’s Proposed Sanatorium in Africa, 23 Church (John A.), ‘‘ The Comstock Lode,” 511 “Ciel et Terre,” new Journal of Astronomy and Meteorology, 424 Circle, the Circumference of the, L. Hajnis, 324 City and Guilds of London Technical Institute, 524 Clark (Latimer), his Standard Cell, 117 Clarke (Hyde), Unconscious Cerebration, 81, 202 Clarke (Dr. Samuel), on the development of Amédlystoma punc- tatum, 454 Clarke (Col. A. R., F.R.S.), “Geodesy,” Major J. Herschel, 605 Claus (Prof.), his Report on the Work done at Zoological Station, Trie:te, 163 _ AZ vi —————— ae ; Clausius’s ‘Mechanical Theory of Heat, 367 Clay, London, Diatoms in, W. H. Shrubsole, 132, 444, 538; W. H. Penning, 494 Climate of England, Alexander Taylor, 131 Climate of Eastern Asia, Dr, H. Fritsche, 175 Clock, a Standard, at the Observatory, Strassburg, 20 Clockmaker’s Company, Prizes of the, 524 Clouds: Classification of, 265; Rev. W. Clement Ley, 207 ; Eliot Howard, 444 Coal, Discovery of, in Western Australia, 264 Cochin-China, Remedy for Leprosy, W. T. Thiselton Dyer, 35 Cocos or Keeling Islands, H. O. Forbes on, 118 Coffee-Leaf Disease, Dr. Moorison, 51 Cogel’s and Ertborn’s “‘ Mélanges Geologiques,” 425 Coins and Coinage, 574 Coire, Severe Earthquake at, 263 Cold Weather, Remarkable Prediction of, B. G. Jenkins, 81 Cold, the Artificial Production of, Pictet on, 524 Colenso (Francis E.), Intellect in Brutes, 251 Colladon (Prof.), Rhode’s Audiphone, 426 Collodion and the Electrophorus, 474 Colloids, the Influence of, upon Crystalline Form and Cohesion, Dr. W. M. Ord, 586 Colours: Hering’s Theory of the Vision of Sight and, Dr. W. | Pole, F.R.S., 14; Scale of, L. Blomefield (/a‘e Jenyns), 201 ; Sexual, of Certain Butterflies, Chas. Darwin, F.k.S., 237 Grae Blinines, John Tennant, 132; Homer’s, 262; Regula- tions for, in Connecticut, 596 Colour-Vision and Colour-Blindness, Prof. J. D, Everett, F.R.S., 62 Comets: the Biela Comet Meteors, 71, 240; Comet of 1652, 164; Winnecke’s, 264; Faye’s, 331; a Great, Dr. Gould, 359; Comet of 1577, 383; the Southern Comet, 384, 425, 453) 475, 502, 525, 5752 597» 618 ; Comet observed from H.M.S. Zriumph, 515; Comet 1861 I., Prof. George Forbes, 562 ; a New Comet, 598 ; the Great Comet of 1843, 618 ; the Comet 1880 4 (Schaberle, April 6), 619 “* Comstock Lode,”’ John A. Church, 511 Confucius, Temple of, Walters’s Guide to the Tablets in, 424 **Congerian” Deposits of South-Eastern Europe, the Asiatic Alliances of the Fauna of the, Th. Fuchs, 528 Conifers, Movement in the Leaves of, 241 ~ Consolidated Beach in Ceylon, Note on a, Rev. R. Abbay, 184 Constance, Lake, Tidal Phenomenon in, 397; Dr. F. A. Forel, 44 Con pintine, Fossil Horses of, 309 Conway (Moncure D.) ‘‘ Demonology and Devil-Lore,” 29 Cook (Captain), Deith of, Robert Mallet, F.R.S., 275 Cooke (E. W., R.A., F.R.S.), Obituary Notice of, 261 Copeland (Ralph), Phosphorescence, 33; Solar Phenomenon, 225 Copenhagen, the Carlsberg Laboratory at, 306 Copper, Diffusion of, in the Animal Kingdom, DreXk. 4H, Norton, 305; Prof. Léon Fredericq, 370 Copper-Tin Alloys, W. Chandler Roberts, F.R.S., 272 Copper in Queensland, 474 Coppock (Chas.), Sunshine, 445 Copying Process, on a New, R. H. Ridont, 155 Coral, an Enormous Piece of, Dredged up near Tosa, 285 Corals, Tabulate, Prof. Nicholson’s work on, 490 Corinth, Isthmus of, Proposed Canal through, 288 Corrigan (Sir Dominic), Death of, 329 Cos, the Island of, Neumayr on, 192 Cosmos, 51, 169, 530 Cotta (Bernard von), Proposed Monument to, 45 Cotton Goods, Sizing and Mildew in, G. E, Davis, C. Dreyfus, and P. Holland, 298 Cotton-Worm, the, Dr. C. V. Riley, 466 “* Countries of the World,” Dr, Robert Brown, 346 Courland, Ancient Race Living at, 386 Cow’s Milk, Translation of a Chinese Placard regarding the Consumption of, 187 = Cox (Mr. Serjeant), Death of, 89 Cranial Measurements, Prof. W. H. Flower, F.R.S., 249 Crater, Appearance of a Small, near Paterno, 382 Crayfish, the, Prof, T. H. Huxley, F.R.S., 3535 the ‘‘ Gastric Mill” of the, W. E. Roth, 395; Crayfish Epidemic in the Alsatian Waters, 408; M. Malakoff on the Ural, 454 Crehore (C. F.), Intellect in Brutes, 132 INDEX ‘ as t ear es ts Se bit [Nature, May 27, 1880. Cremation at Gotha, 239 ; Cresswell Cave Exploration, 1876, Prof. W. Boyd Dawkins, F.R.S., 106 Crevaux (Dr.), his Ascent of the Iga, 73 . Croll (James, F.R.S.), why the Air at the Equator is not Hotter in January than in July, 129; the temperature of Space and its Bearing on Terrestrial Physics, 521 ene (Wm., F.R.S.), Radiant Matter Experiments in Paris, 285 “ Croydon, Exhibition at, in Connection with the Congress of the Sanitary Insti’ute, 18 ; Crustacea, Notes on, Dr. P. P. C. Hoek, 240; in the Old Red Sandstone, 241 Cryptogamic Flora of Silesia, W. R. McNab, 391 Crystallisation of Bodies, Lagrange on, 310 Crystallogenesis, Marangoni’s Theory of, 504 Crystallography of Calcite, on the, J: R. McD. Irby, 200 Ctenophora, the Ontogeny and Phylogeny of the, 93 Cumberland, Reported Shock of Earthquake, 19 Curlew Mountains, Silurian Fossils in the, Prof. E. Hull, F.R.S., 32; G. H. Kinahan, 55 Curran (W.), Perforated Stones in River Beds, 348; Suicide of the Scorpion, 325 oo Electro-Dynamometer for Measuring Large, W. N. Hi » 327 | Cycles, Sunshine, E. Douglas Archibald, 393 Cyclone in New Caledonia and the Society Islands, 574 Cylinders, the Transverse Vibrations of, 21 Cyprus: Cedar of Lebanon in, 93 ; Experiments in Indian Seed Cultivation at, 286 Dallas (W. S.), the Society for the Encouragement of Literature and Science, 107 Dark Cavities which are Inaccessible to Direct Light, Descrip- tion of an Instrument for Exploring, Thomas Stevenson, 14 ~ Darwin (Charles, F.R.S.), Fertility of Hybrids from the Common and Chinese Goose, 207 ; on the Sexual Colours of Certain Butterflies, 237 ; the Omori Shell-Mounds, 561 Darwin (Erasmus), Ernst Krause, 245 Darwin (G. H., F.R.S.), on the Secular Changes in the Elements of the Orbit of a Satellite Revolving about a Planet Distorted by Tides, 235 ; Erratum in Paper on Tidal Friction, 276 Davies (D. C.), Treatise on Metalliferous Mines and Mining, 129 Davis, Dreyfus and Holland’s Sizing and Mildew in Cotton Goods, 298 Dawkins (Prof, W. Boyd, F.R.S.), the Cresswell Cave Explora- tion, 1876, 106 Diylight, Ordinary, the Spectrum of, 426 Debaize (Abbé), Death of, 332 Decomposition and Heat, Favre and Thomas Woods, 493 Deep-Sea Dredging and Life in the Deep Sea, H. N. Moseley, F.R.S., 543, 569, 591 De La Rue (Dr. Warren, F.R.S.), the Word ‘‘ Telegraph,” 226 : #€ Demonology and Devil-Lore,”’ Moncure D, Conway, 29 Denning (W. F.), the Meteor Showers of January 2, 527; Meteors, 537 ‘ Deschmann (Ch.), on Prehistoric Sta‘ions in Carniola, 192 “«Devil-Lore and Demonology,” Moncure D, Conway, 29 Deville (Sainte-Claire), Resignation of, 381 Devonian Rocks, Upper, of the North of France, 164 Devonian Rocks of Belgium, Prof. Malaise, 576 : Dewar (Prof. J., F.R.S.), on the Spectra of Sodium and Potas; sium, 170 ; on the Reversal of the Lines of Metallic Vapours, _ I } Diatbonds : Artificial, 260, 404; Asserted Artificial Production of, Prof. Nevil Story-Maskelyne, F.R.S., 203; W. Mattieu Williams on, 224; Hannay’s Artificial, 421, 426; Dr. R. Sydney Marsden, 445 Diaphote or Tilephote, 576 Diastase and Ptyaline, 240 Diathermanous Power of Films of Soapy Water, 620 Liatoms in London Clay, W. H. Shrubsole, 132, 444, 5385 W. H. Penning, 494 ¢ Dickins (Fred. V.), Prehistoric Man in Japan, 350; Omori Shell- Heaps, 610 Differentiated Energy, Nudeln, 185 Dinosaur, the New Wealden, J. Whitaker Hulke, F.R.S., 135 Lioptrics of the Eye, 94 on the Potential Dimensions of, A. V. * May 27, 1880] - ©£ INDEX oe vii Disk, Caudal, E. H. Pringle, 34 Dissociation of Chlorine, Bromine, and Iodine, Prof. Henry E. _ Armstrong, 461 Dissociation of the Metalloid Elements, Sir B. C. Brodie, 491 Distant (W. L.), on Power’s ‘‘ Contribution to North American Ethnology,” 247 Diving, Fleuss’s Method of, Dr. B. W. Richardson, 62 _ Dixon (W. Hepworth), Death of, 214 Dominica, Volcanic Eruption in the Island of, 330; H. A. Alford Nicholls, 372 Dorset, Spiders of, by the Rev. O. Pickard-Cambridge, 273 Double Refraction and Atmospheric Pressure, 72 Double Stars, a Handbook of, E. Crossley, J. Gledhill, J. M. Wilson, 53; Observations at Chicago by S. W. Burnham, _ 533 Micrometrical Measurements of, made at Cincinnati, 1878 ___ and 1879, 512 Donghty (Capt. F. Proby), an Account of some Marine Animals met with en route to the Cape, 32 Draper (Dr. Henry), on Photographing the Spectra of the Stars . and Planets, 83 Dresden, Ethnographical and Anthropological Museum at, 70 Dreyer (J. L. E.), Astronomical Subject-Index, 154 Dublin, Royal Society of, 483, 507 Dulwich College Science Society, Second Annual Report of, 424 Duncan (Prof, P. Martin, F.R.S.), Cassell’s Natural History, 135 ; Ophiolepis mirabilis, 590 n (W. S.), Origin of Man, 493 _ Dundee Naturalists’ Society, Scientific Exhibition, 307 _ Dutch Arctic Expedition, 118 _ Dyer (W. T. Thiselton), a Cochin-China Remedy for Leprosy, 35 _ Dynamo-Electric Current, and on Certain Means to improve its Steadiness, Dr. C. W. Siemens, F.R.S., 482 _ Ear, Musical Sounds within the, Dr. A. Ernst, 589 Earth, the Figure of the, Empioyment of the Pendulum for De- termining, Major J. Herschel, 599 _ Earthquakes, 286; in China, 12; at Ekaterinodar, Caucasus, 19; in West Cumberland, 19 ; in Hungary, 89; Hungarian, and the Kolumbacs Flies, Julius Pethd, 202 ; in Iceland, W. _G. Spence Paterson, 132; at Temesvar, Details of, 163; Slight Shock of, at Stranorlar, 188; at Agram, 215; in Switzerland, 239; the Study of Earthquakes in Switzerland, 351; at Havana, 306, 357; at Carlsruhe, 306, 408; in San ' Salvador, 452; in Moldavia, 524; at Tenez, 547; at Yoko- hama, 617 ; Easter Island, Albert J. Mott, rr ; H. N. Moseley, F.R.S., 32 _ Echinoderms, Prize for Researches on, 263 ; Prof. Zittel’s Work on Fossil, 509 ; _ Eclipses: Lunar, 117; Ancient Solar, Re-Discussion of, 141 ; Total Solar, of January 11, 287; Total Solar, in the next Decade, 308; Eclipse Observations, Collated by A. C. Ranyard, Dr, Arthur Schuster, F.R.S., 488 _ Edinburgh : Royal Society, 268, 340, 531, 556, Officers, &c., 70; Mr. Gladstone at, 115 ; Legacy to University, 505 Edison’s New Electrometer, 21, 360; his Latest Pattern of Tele- ___ phone Transmitter, 22 ; Successful use of Edison’s Telephone, ook Edison’s Electric Light, 187, 202, 215, 238, 242, 261, 5, 34£ _ Edlund on a New Electrical Experiment, 117 Education, Technical, Prof. Huxley on, 139 Eggs, Hens’, the Registration of, 574 Egypt, M. Mariette-Bey on the proposed Excavations in, 115 Ekaterinodar, Caucasus, Earthquake at, 19 Elasmopoda (Hjalmar Théel), a New Order of Holothuridea, Sir Wyville Thomson, F.R.S., 470 Electricity: ‘‘ Electric Transmission of Power,” Paget Higgs, LL.D., 10; Prof Tépler’s Electric Machine, 21; Mt. Gaston Planté’s Researches on Voltaic, 21; M. Bferknes’s Theory of Electricity and Magnetism, 72; Distribution of the Correct Time by Electricity, 90 ; Electricity and Steel, 117 ; a New Electrical Experiment, 117; Planté’s Researches in, Prof. Silvanus P, Thompson, 150; Electricity of the Blowpipe “*Flame,” Col. W. A. Ross, 275; Herbert M‘Leod, F.R.S., 347; the Nature of, W. H. Preece, 334; Novel Source of Frictional, Prof. W. F. Barrett, 417; a New Registering Apparatus, 576; Seeing by Electricity, 576; John Perry and W. E, Ayrton, 589; J. E. H. Gordon, 610; Electric _ Light, Paris, Experiments on, 90, 282, 307, 423; Alex. S. Gibson, 132; Extension of the Thames Embankment System of, 162; at Woolwich, 188 ; Edison’s New Light, 187, 202, 215, 238, 242, 261, 285, 341; Vegetation under, 438, 456 ; Electric Spark, Method of Perforating Glass with, 189; Electric Divining-Rod, 243; M. Pfeiffer’s Electric Toy, 267 ; Electrical Storing, 287; Magnetic Effects of Electric Convec- tion, 359; on a New Action of the Magnet on Electric Cur- rents, 361 ; Electrical Railway in Berlin, 473, 501 ; Epigram on Dr, Siemens’ Electric Chlorophyll, 473; Electric Testing of Telegraph, Cables, Capt. V. Hoskier, 587; Electro- Dynamometer for Measuring Large Currents, Walter N, Hill, 327 Electrolysis, a Process for Steeling Copper Plates by, 310 Electromagnetic Rotation of the Plane of Polarisation in Gases, © - 408 Electrometer, Edison’s New, 21, 360; a Novel Quadrant, 310; Silone’s Form of, 427 Electrophorus and Collodion, 474 Electroscope, Capillary, G. Gore, F.R.S., on, 194 Electro-Technical Society, 286 ‘* Electrotechnischer Verein,” Berlin, 407 Elements, Metalloid, Pictet’s Proposal to Dissociate the, 445 ; Sir B. C. Brodie, 491 Elephants, Tool-making, 34 Elephants, Indian, Use of, in South African Exploration, 49 Ellis (Alexander, F.R.S,), the History of Musical Pitch, 550 “ Encyclopedia Britannica,” ‘* Asia Minor” in the, 82; ‘** The Nile,” Albert J. Mott, 155 Endowment of Research, the Local, 487 Energy, Differentiated, on the Potential Dimensions of, A. v. Nudeln, 185 England, the Climate of, Alexander Taylor, 131 Entomology : Entomological Society, 123, 219, 363, 435, 507; Indian, R. MacLachlan, 173; the American Entomologist, 441 Eocene Flora of Bournemouth, J. Starkie Gardner, 181 Epidemics, Sir Joseph Fayrer, F.R.S., 229 ‘*Epipubis in the Dog and Fox,” T. H. Huxley, F.R.S., on, 362 ‘ Epizo6tic Pleuropneumonia, Report on the Pathological Histo- logy of, by Dr. Chas. Roy, Dr. E. Klein, F.R.S., 175 Epping Forest, the Superintendent of, 162 Epping Forest and County of Essex Naturalists’ Field Club, Opening Meeting of the, 215, 286, 474 Equator, Why the Air at the, is not Hotter in January than in July, J. Croll, F.R.S., 129; A. Woeikof, 249 Eridanus, New Nebulz in, 117 Ernst (Dr. A.), on the Heterostylism of ‘‘ Melochia parvifolia,” 217; Musical Sounds within the Ear, 589; Recall of Sights and Tastes, 611 Este, Prehistoric Cemetery at, 596 Ethnology : Proposed Ethnographical Museum in Paris, 47; Finnic Ethnology, A. H. Keane, 179; North American Ethnology, by Stephen Powers, W. L, Distant, 247 ; Afghan Ethnology, A. H. Keane, 276 Etna, Astronomical Observatory on, 89 ; Salses of, 241; MSS. of Sartorius von Waltershausen descriptive of, 287; G. F. Rodwell on, 396 ; the late Eruption of, G. F. Rodwell, 458 Ettingshausen (Baron), the Fossil Flora of Alum Bay, 555 ‘«Euchlzena luxurians,” Consul Calvert on, 116 Everett (A. Hart), A. R. Wallace’s Australasia, 535; Negritoes in Borneo, 588 Everett (Prof. J. D., F.R.S.), Colour-Vision and Colour-Blind- ness, 62 ; ‘‘Song of the Screw,” 349 Evershed (Syd.), Meteor, 563 Ewald (Friedrich von), Death of, 89 Expansion of a Substance on Vaporisation, Method of Caleu- lating, W. J. Sollas, 492 Eye, Dioptrics of, 94 Eye, the, as an Automatic Photometer, W. Ackroyd, 627 Factor Tables, Glaisher’s, 462 ‘False Dawn,” J. W. Redhouse, 33 Farm, the Saidapet, Manual and Guide, C. Benson, 54 ‘* Farming for Pleasure and Profit,” Arthur Roland, 534 Farr (Dr.), and the Registrar-Generalship, 238 ; Proposed Tes- timonial to, 451 Fat and Albumen, 618 Fata Morgana seen at Freiburg, 286 ** Fauna der Gaskohle und der Kalksteine der Permformation Bohmens,” von Dr. Ant. Fritsch, 31 ase Vill INDEX [Nature, May 27, 1880 Fautrier (Signor), on Forms produced by the Italian Alphabet in the Phonograph, 21 Favre (Prof. Pierre Antoine), Obituary Notice of, 417 Faye’s Comet, 331 Fayrer (Sir Joseph, F.R.S.), Epidemics, 229 y Felyx-Denys-Rapontayabo, his Letter to the Anthropological Society of Paris, 19 Fermentation, Pasteur’s Studies on, 274 Fertilisers of Alpine Flowers, Dr. Hermann Miiller, 275 Fertility of Hybrids from the Common and Chinese Goose, Charles Darwin, F.R.S., 207; Lewis Wright, 302 Fiévez (M.), on Spectroscopy, 188; Experiments on the Spectra Nebule, 576 ‘Figuier (Madame Louis), Death of, 140 Filaments and I[ce-Crystals, Rev. O. Fisher, 302, 3965; Prof. D. Wetterhan, 396 Finnic Ethnology, A. H. Keane, 179 Fire produced by the Friction of Wood, 423 Fire-Flies and Weaver Birds, E. L. Layard, 201 Fishes: Voice in, S. E. Peal, 55; Platysomid, R. H. Traquair, 55; the Animal Heat of, 156; Strange Incubation in, Dr. R. F. Hutchinson, 226; Fossil, of Scotland, Dr. R. H. Traquair, 428; Fish Culture Association of America, 500; Fish Exhi- bition in Berlin, 596 Fisher (Rev. O.), Ice-Crystals and Filaments, 302, 396 “‘F lame,” Blowpipe, Electricity of the, Col. W. A. Ross, 275 ; Flax, West Australian, Large Demand for, 141 Fletcher (Thomas), his Scientific Meetings, 163 ; the Audiphone, 15 Fleuss’s Process of Diving and remaining under Water, Dr. B. W. Richardson, F.R.S., 62 Flies, Kolumbacs, and Hungarian Earthquakes, Julius Peth, 202 Flora of Plymouth, Publication of a, 262 Flora, Cryptogamic, of Silesia, W. R. McNab, 391 Florida Burial Mounds, ‘‘ Finds” in the, 596 Flow of Viscous Materials, R. S. Newall, F.R.S., 202 Flower (Prof, W. H., F.R.S.), “Osteology of Man,” 222; Cranial Measurements, 249 Flower’s History of the Tin Trade, 345 Flowers, Alpine, Fertilisers of, Dr. Hermann Miiller, 275 Fluorescent Spectrum, the Study of the, 267 . Fogs, 355 : Fonvielle’s (M. W. de) New Novel ‘‘ Neridah,” 232; Gas and Electricity in Paris, 282 ; Disencumbering the Loire of Ice, 358 ; and Lontin’s Maynetic Gyroscope, 573, 593 Forbes (Prof. George), the Comet 1861 I., 562 Forbes (H. O.), Cocos or Keeling Island, 118 Force and Momentum, ro$ Force, Lines of, due to a Small Magnet, John Buchanan, 370 Forel (Dr. F. A.), on the Lake of Geneva being Frozen, 306; Tidal Phenomenon in Lake Constance, 443 Forests of Tasmania, Rev. J. E. Tenison: Woods, 573 Forrest (Mr, Alex.), his Expedition in Western Australia, 165 Fortune (Robert), Death of, 599 Fossils, Silurian, in the Curlew Mountains, Prof. E. Hull, F.R.S., 32; G. H. Kinahan, 55 Fossil Lovers, 161 Fossil Treasures at Yale College, Prof. Marsh, 287 Fossil Horses of Constantine, 309 Fossil Fishes of Scotland, Dr. R. H. Traquair, 428 France: Education in, 115, 361, 617 ; Upper Devonian Rocks of the North of, 164; the New French Cable for America, 307 ; French Expedition for Exploring Sahara, 310 ; Arrange- ments for:the Reception of Prof. Nordenskjéld in, 409 ; Observatories in, 451 ; Société Savantes, 547 ; French Associa- tion for the Advancement of Science, Gilt to, 573; Sewage Farming in, 617: see a/so Paris Frankland (Sophie), Intellect in Brutes, 82 Franklin Institute, see ¥ournal Frazer (W.), Bone-sucking, a Habit of Cattle, 12 Fredericq (Prof. Léon), Diffusion of Copper in the Animal Kingdom, 370 Freezing of Water, Directions for the Artificial, 243 Freezing of Large Surfaces of Water, Notes on, 424 Freiburg, Fata Morgana seen at, 286 Friction of Wood, Fire produced by, 423 Frictional Electricity, Novel Source of, Prof. W. F. Barrett, 417 Fritsch (Dr. Ant.), ‘* Fauna der Gaskohle und der Kalksteine der Permformation Bohmens,” 31 Fritsche (Dr. H.), the Climate of Eastern Asia, 175 Frog, the Coloured Blood Corpuscles of the, 453 Frost of December, 1879, W. Marriott, 435 Frost, Damage by, in the Paris Parks, 501 Fuchs (Th.), Imperfection of the Geological Record, 476 Fuller (J. B.), the Science of Agriculture, 200 Galileo and the Application of Mathematics to Physics, Prof. Wm. Jack, LL.D., 40, 58 . i Galls, Oak, 445 Galton (Francis, F.R.S.), Visualised Numerals, 252, 323, 494 Galton (J. C.), Further Notes upon the Papuans of Maclay Coast, New Guinea, 204, 226 Galvani, Monument to, in Bologna, 19, 47 Galvanic Battery, New, with Circulating Liquid, 360 Galvanic Elements, Inconstant, 288 $ Galvanometer, a New Form of, 576 Gamgee (Arthur, F.R.S.), ‘ A Note on Protagon,” 387 Gardner (J. Starkie), on the Eocene Flora of Bournemouth, 181; on the Alum Bay Flora, 588 Garnett (W.), Obituary Notice of Prof. Clerk Maxwell, 43 Gas-lighting in Paris, some Statistics of, 140 Gas and Electricity in Paris, W. de Fonvielle, 282 Gases: on the Solubility of Solids in, by J. B. Hannay and James Hogarth, 82; on the Nature of the Absorption of, Dr. S. Wroblewski, 190 ; Molecular Velocity of, 201 ; L. Hajnis, 302; Refraction of Liquefied, 243; the Solubility of, in Solids, Hannay and Hogarth, 499 Gaseous Nebula, Discovery of a, Rev. T. W. Webb, 111 ‘* Gastric Mill” of the Crayfish, W. E. Roth, 395 Gaule (J.), on the Coloured Blood-corpuscles of the Frog, 453 Gauss (C. F.), R. Tucker, 467 Gautier (Adolphe), the St. Gothard Tunnel, 581 Gazetta Chimica Italiana, 27, 146, 218, 433 Geese, Chinese, 207, 302 Gegenbaur’s Morphologisches Jahrbuch, 169, 530 f Geikie (Prof. A., FS), Geology of the Far West, 67 ; Geological Survey of the United States, 612 Geissler ‘Tubes, Researches with, 72 ‘ Geneva: Jade Scraper discovered at, Prof. Max Miiller on, 187; Society of Physics and Natural History, 315; Inter- national Exhibition of Clocks and Watches at, 330 Geodesy: Col. A. B. Clarke’s Treatise on, Major J. Herschel, 60 Gamenaton: Geographical Notes, 22, 49, 73, 92, 118. 142, 165, 189, 216, 241, 265, 288, 310, 331, 360, 385, 409, 455, 476, 526, 549, 577, 598, 649; Geographical Society of Russia, 22, 118, 522, 620; Works recently Published by, 23 ; Isvestia of, 311; Medals of the, 428; Royal Geographical Society, 49, 265, 455, 619; Sournal, 22, 427; Reception of Prof. Nordenskjéld, 504 ; Medals, 598, 619 ; Col. Gordon elected an Honorary Corresponding Member of, 360; Proceedings, 550; Geographical Congresses in France, 266 : Geology: Prof. Geikie on the Geology of the Far West, 67 ; “*Geological Survey of the Fortieth Parallel,” Prof. New- berry’s, 141; Geological Survey of the United States, 197, 332, 476; Prof. Arch. Geikie, F.R.S., 612; Geological Society, 75, 171, 194, 219, 291, 388, 459, 506, 578; Anni- versary Meeting of, 406; Geological Madrigal, Bret Harte’s, 161; Geological Notes, 164, 241, 287, 332, 425, 475, 576; Geology of the Henry Mountains, 177; of the Lower Auma- zons, Orville A. Derby, 188; of Greece, 192 ; of Belgium, 425; of Herzegovina and Bosnia, 426; Geological Survey of Sax- ony, 4753; Geological Survey of India, 475; Geological Record, Imperfection of the, Th. Fuchs, 476; Geologists’ Association on the Hampshire Coast, 590 vy Geometrical Figures, Change in Apparent Position of, Wm. Ackroyd, 108 Geometry, Fundamental Definitions and Propositions of, with especial Reference to the Syllabus of the Association for the Improvement of Geometrical Teaching, Prof. Simon New- comb, 293 se ao Gerland (Dr.), his Discovery of Original Letters by Leibnitz and Papin, 1 Gatha Archropéloaidal Congress at Berlin, 285 German African Society, 360, 451 Gibson (Alex. S.), Electric Lighting, 132 ) Giglioli (Prof. Henry Hillyer), on Ha/oporphyrus lepidion, 201 ; on the ‘‘ Habitat” of Lophiomys, 201 Gillman (F.), Suicide of Scorpion, 275, 302 lacier, a Model, Flow of Viscous Materials, J. T. Bottomley, 159; Movements of Glaciers, 3c9 ; Glacier near Leadville, 574 Gladstone (Right Hon. W. E.) at Edinburgh, 115 Glaisher on the Temperature of London, 48 Glaisher’s Factor Tables for the Fourth Million, 462 Glands, Pepsine-forming, 169 _ Glasgow, Proposed Geographical Society for, 288° Glass, Method of Perforating, with the Electric Spark, 189 . Glass, Cement for, Herr H. Schwarz, 360 — (Alfred von), on the Recent Severe Weather at Mulhouse, 1 Globus, 550 _ Glycerine Barometer, on thé Construction of a New, 377 Goose, Fertility of Hybrids from the Common and Chinese, Charles Darwin, F.R.S., 207; Lewis Wright, 302 Gordon (Col.) Elected an Honorary Corresponding Member of the Geographical Society, 360 Gordon (J. E. H.), Seeing by Electricity, 610 Gore (G., F.R.S.), Thermo-Electric Behaviour of Aqueous Solutions with Mercurial Electrodes, 169; on the Capillary Electroscope, 194; Chemico-Electric Relations of Metals in Solutions of Salts of Potassium, 218 Gore (J. E.), Southern Stellar Objects for Small Telescopes _ between the Equator and 55° South Declination with Obser- vations made in the Punjab, 80 Gotha, Cremation at, 239 G6ttingen, University of, Prof. Grisebach’s Herbarium left to, 162 ; Royal Academy of Sciences, 412 Gramme Magneto-Electric Machine, a New, 72 Grape Sugar, the Manufacture of, 20 d Grape Vine, Fertilisation of the, J. Herschel, 468 Greece, Geology of, 192 Greenland, the Interior of, 344 Greenwich Observatory : the Small. Planets Observed at, Ad- miral Mouchez, 407 ; and the New York Herald, 524 — Calendar, Scheme for Introducing the, into Russia, Gregory (James R.), Intellect in Brutes, 324 Griotte, Marbre, Dr. Barrois on, 165 Groddeck (Dr. Albrecht von), on Mineral Deposits, 174 Groneman (H. T. H.), 2 Meteor, 444 Guano, Discovery of, near Cape Town, 116 Guayquil, Serious Effect of the Bad Season of 1878 at, 188 Guebhard’s (M.) Method of Procuring Iridescent Rings in a Permanent Form, 242 Guisseny, Discovery of a Cavern near, 90 Gunnery Experiments, 139, 162, 286, 514 Guns, the 7iunderer Explosion, 329, 357, 437 Guppy (H. B.), Is Mount Unzen a Volcano? 153 Gumanud (M.), Results of a Recent Experiment in Sylviculture, 330 Guyard (M. A.), Discovery of a New Metal, Uralium, 187 Gypsum, the Formation of Newton’s Colour-Rings in, 21 Gyroscope, Magnetic, De Fonvielle and Lontin’s, 573, 593 _ “Habitat,” on the, of Zophiomys, Prof. H. Hillyer Giglioli, 201 Haeckel (Dr, Ernst), ‘‘ Das System der Medusen; erster Theil einer Monographie der Medusen,” 413 ; a New Class of Rhizo- poda, 449 Hafner, a Bank called, Investigation of, 307 Hagen (Prof. A. H.), on the Destruction of Obnoxions Insects, r 188 ; Destruction of Insect Pests by Means of Yeast, 611 } Hailstones, Heavy, 616 ___ Hair, the Pilous System in Man, 424 q Hajnis (L.), the Temperature of the Air at various Levels, 176 ; - Molecular Velocity of Gases, 302; the Circumference of the Circle, 324 Hakodate, Japan, New Botanical Gardens at, 357 Halle Geographical Society, Meeting of, 242 Halley’s Mount, 303, 348 Haloporphyrus lepidion (Risso), Prof. Henry Hillyer Giglioli on, 201 Hamburg, proposed Natural History Museum at, 89 Hann (Dr,), Rainfall of Austria-Hungary, 385 Hannay (J. B.), a Curious Rainbow, 56; Artificial Diamonds, 421,426 Hannay and Hogarth, on the Solubility of Solids in Gases, 82 ; on the Solubility of Gases in Solids, 499 Harte’s (Bret) Geological Madrigal, 161 Harris (R. E.), a Strange Phenomenon, 409 Harrison (Percy R.), “ Ideal” Matter, 275 Harvard and Boston, 149 Harvard College Observatory, 359 Harvard Museum of Comparative Zoology, 424 Hastings (Prof. C. S.), ‘‘On Triple Objectives with Complete Colour Correction,” 243 Hats, a Feat of Memory, Edwyn Anthony, 562 Havana, Shocks of Earthquake at, 306, 357 Hayden (Dr. F. V.), on the Two Ocean Pass, 287 Hearing through the Mouth, Wm. Chappell, z50 Heart, on Certain Errors Respecting the Structure of the, attri- buted to Aristotle, Prof. T. H. Huxley, F.R.S., 1 Heat, Animal, of Fishes, 156 *«Heat, Mechanical Theory of,” by R. Clausius, 367 : Heat Conduction in Liquids, 620 ‘* Heighway’s Photographic Printer’s Assistant,” 90 Hekla, Mount, Ascent of, for Geological Investigations, 286; Ascent of, by a Lady, 286 Heliograph in Warfare, 617 Hellenic Studies, Society for the Promotion of, Meeting of, 305 Helmersen (Count von), the Geology and Physical Geography of the Aralo-Caspian Basin, 577 Henniker (Sir Brydges, Bart.), appointed Registrar-General, 214 Henrici (Jacob F.), a Microscopic Serenade, 112 Henry Mountains, Geology of, 177 Hering’s Theory of the Vision of Light and Colours, Dr. W. Pole, F.R.S., 14 Herschel (Major J.), Fertilisation of the Grape Vine, 468; “Herschel and Cameron’s Practical Astronomy,” 515 ; on the Employment of the Pendulum for Determining the Figure of the Earth, 599; Clarke’s ‘‘ Geodesy,” 605 Hertz (M.), Death of, 143 Herzegovina and Bosnia, Geology of, 426 Heterostylism of Afelochia parvifolia,Dr. A. Ernston, 217 Heuglin (Herr Theodor), Erection of a Monument to his Memory, 89 Hexameter, on a, J. J. Walker, 57; Dr. C. M. Ingleby, 81; Henry Cecil, 81 Hicks (W. M.), the Transverse Propagation of Light, 301 Higgs (Paget, LL.D.), ‘‘ Electric Transmission of Power,” 10 Hildebrandsson (Dr.) on the Classification of Clouds,: 265 Hill (S. A.), the Annual Variation of the Barometer in India, 513 Till (Walter N.), an Electro-Dynamometer for Measuring Large Currents, 327 Himalayan Ranges, W. T. Blanford, 442 Histology of Epizootic Pleuropneumonia, Report on the Patho- logical, by Dr. Chas. S. Roy, Dr. E. Klein, F.R.S., on, 175 Histology of Hydra fusca, T. Jeffery Parker on, 244 Hoang-nan, reputed Remedy for Leprosy, 19, 35 Hochstetter {F. von), on Prehistoric Stations in Carniola, 192 Hoek (Dr. P. P. €.), Notes on Crustacea, 240; the Stone in the Nest of the Swallow, 494 Holden (Prof.), Orion-Trapezium, 286 Holloway (W. H.), Death of, 616 Holmes’s ‘* Treatise on Vocal Physiology and Hygiene; with especial Reference to the Cultivation and Preservation of the Voice,” Dr. Williama Pole on, 271 Holothuridea elasmopoda, a new Order of, Sir Wyville Thomson, F.R.S., 470 ; Homer’s Colour-Blindness, 262 Horns, Stag’s, 155, 372, 417; Paul Henry Stokoe, 203; Dr. F. Buchanan White, 251; Bolling W. Barton, 325; J. Rae, 349 Horse, the Paces of the, Sir W. G. Simpson, Bart., 55; V. B. Barrington-Kennett, 107 Horses, Fossil, of Constantine, 309 Houghton (Rev. W.), Natural History of the Ancients, 151 Houzeau (M.), Belgian State Prize Awarded to, 162 Howard (Eliot), Cloud Classification, 444 Howarth (E.), a Museum Conference, 492 Howgate (Capt.), his Proposed Arctic Expedition, 11, 526 Huggins (W., F.R.S.), on the Photographic Spectra of Stars, 269 Hughes (Prof. D. E.), Note on some Effects produced by the Immersion of Iron and Steel in Acidulated Water, 602 Hulke (J. Whitaker, F.R.S.), the New Wealden Dinosaur, 135 Hall (Prof. E., F.R.S.), Silurian Fossils in the Curlew Moun- tains, 32 Hungary, Earthquakes in, 89; and the Kolumbacs Flies, Julius Petho, 202 x INDEX [Nature, May 27, 1880 Hunter (Dr. W. W.), Lecture at Philosophical Institution of Edinburgh on ‘* What the English had done for India,” 46 Hutchinson (Dr., R. F.), Curious Incubation, 177; Scorpion Suicide, 226 ; Strange Incubation in Fishes, 226 Huxley (Prof. T. H.,F.R.S.), on Certain Errors Respecting the Structure of the Heart Attributed to Aristotle, 1; on Technical Education, 139; ‘‘ The Crayfish: an Introduction to the Study of Zoology,” Prof. E. Ray Lankester on, 353; ‘*On the Epi- pubis in the Dog and Fox,” 362 : Hwang-nao, Reputed Cure for Leprosy, 19, 35 Hybrids, Fertility of, from the Common and Chinese Goose, Charles Darwin, F.R.S., 207 ; Lewis Wright, 302 Hydra fusca, on the Histology of, T. Jeffery Parker, 244 Hydrochloric Acid, Liquid, the Physical Constants of, Gerrard ‘Ansdell, 387 Hydrogen Lines, the New, Observed by Photography, the Star Lines, and the Dissociation of Calcium, Dr. H. W. Vogel, 410 Hyyiene, Vocal Physiology and, by Gordon Holmes, Dr. Wim. Pole, F.R.S., on, 271 Iga, Dr. Crevaux’s Ascent of the, 73 Wee: on the Loire, 306 ; Ice-Blocks at Saumur and Lyons, 330 ; Ice-Crystals and Filaments, Duke of Arvyll, 274, 3683 k. Meldola, 302; Rev. O, Fisher, 302, 396; Capt. H. King, 302; Prof. D. Wetterhan, 396; Prof. L. Bleekrode, 4443 S. T. Barrett, 537; Wm. LeRoy Broun, 589; the Formation of Ice, on Large Surfaces of Water, 424; the Elasticity of, 504; Anchor-lce, Dr, J, Rae, F.R.S., 538 Iceberg, a Large, 549 Iceland, Thorlacius’ Account of the Weather there, 48 ; Earth- quakes in, W. G. Spence Paterson, 132 “‘ Iconographical History of the Orchids,” M, E, de Puydt, 357 ‘*Tdeal” Matter,Perey R. Harrison, 275 Ideographs, Nicobarese, 555 Illinois, Noxious and Beneficial Insects of the State of, Cyrus Thomas, 367 Imray (John), Monkeys in the West Indies, 371 Incubation, Curious, Dr. R. F. Hutchinson, 177 Indexes, Subject, F. D. Brown, 10 India: Indian Elephants, Use of, in South African Exploration, 49 ; on the Mountains of the Northern and Western F. rontier, _ Trelawney W. Saunders, 96; Indian Entomology, R, McLachlan, 173; Jungle Life in, by Valentine Ball, 3733 Geological Survey of, 475; the Annual Variation of the Barometer in, S, A. Hill, 513; the Aryan Tribes of, 598 India Museum, Removal of, to Kew, 70; Zoological Collections of the, 621 India-Rubber, Waste, Utilisation of, 427 “Indigo” Spectrum, the Proper Name for the, 426 Induction Coil and De Meritens Magneto-Electric Machine, Effects produced by, Wm. Spottiswoode, P.R.S., 433 Insects, Obnoxious, Prof. Hagen on the Destruction of, 188 “Insects, Noxious and Beneficial, of the State of Illinois,” Cyrus Thomas, 367 Insect Pests, the Destruction of, an Unforeseen Application of the Results of Biological Investigation, Prof. E, Ray Lankester, F.R.S., 447 Insects, Injurious, Notes of Observations on, Report, 1879, 560 Insect Pests, Destruction of, by Application of Yeast, H. A. Hagen, 611 Institution of Civil Engineers, 172, 474, 507, 556 Institution of Mechanical Engiueers, 615 Institution of Naval Architects, 485 Intellect in Brutes, 494; ‘‘Lindsay’s Mind in the Lower Animals,” 8; James Turnbull, 12; S. E. Peal, 34; Sophie + Frankland, 82; C. F. Crehore, 132; Commander Teen Maclear, 250; Francis E. Culenso, 251; W. Thompson, ° 324; J. K. Gregory, 324; Major Elphinstone Begbie, 325 ; T. E. Wilcox, 372; Alex. Mackennal, 397; W. Brown, 397 ° Intra-mercurial Planet Question, Prof. Lewis Swift, 299 Inverted Images, the Rectification of, 21 Iodine, Chlorine, and Bromine, Dissociation of, Prof, Henry E, Armstrong, F.R.S., 461 Irby (J. R. McD,), ‘‘On the Crystallography of Calcite,” 200 Iridescent Rings, M. Guébhard’s Method of Procuring, in a Permanent Form, 242 “Irish, Who are the?” James Bonwick, A, H. Keane, 464, 563 Iron, Heat Conductivity of, 385 ' tron and Steel Institute, 616 Iron and Steel Wires, effects produced by the Immersion of in Acidulated Water, Prof, D. E, Hughes, 602 Irmin’s Steam Injector, 474 (sland of Réunion, proposed Observatory on, 407 Isochronous Regulator, a new, 504 : Isopod : a Blind, 240; New England, 309 Istituto Reale Veneto di Scienze ¢ Lettere, Prizes offered by, 306 Italy and Sicily: Notes from, G. F, Rodwell, 457; Alpine Club of, 453; the Pelagic Fauna of the Lakes of, 525; cay yee Society of, 577; Ttalian Antarctic Expedition, 578, 59) r Ivens and Capello, arrival of at Loanda, 118 Jack (Prof, William, LL.D.), Galileo and the Application of Mathematics to Physics, 40, 58 Jackson (John R.), Notes of Observations on Injurious Insects, Report 1879, 560 Jade Scraper discovered at Geneva, Prof. Max Miiller on, 187 ** Jahrbuch der Erfindungen,” 358 Janssen (M.), his Sun-spot Observations, 162 ; on Arago, 418 Japan: Manufacture of Sulphuric Acid in, 20; newly discovered Photographic Process in, 243; Prehistoric Man in, Fred. V. Dickins, 350; S. Suguira, 371 ; Japanese Seas and the Sei of Okhotsk, proposed Russian Exploration of, 526; Japanese, Metric, and English Weights and Measures, 617 Jenkins (B, G.), Remarkable Prediction of Cold, 81 Johns Hopkins University, Fourth Annual Report. of, 262; Biology at, 618 Jokes, Scientific, 349, 368, 396 Journal of the Royal Microscopical Society, 27, 243 Journal of the Franklin Institute, 50, 146, 290, 433, 458, 626 Journal de Physique, 51, 299, 338, 506, 578 ; Journal of Anatomy and Physiology, 74, 361 ournal of Botany, 98 beet of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, 193 Judd (Prof. F.R.S.), on the Classification of the English Tertiaries, 448 Jungle Life in India, by Valentine Ball, 373 Jupiter, Red Spot upon, 20; M. Niesten on, 407 Jurassic Reptiles, New, 241 Kafiristan, Surgeon-Major Bellew on, 427 Kaltbrunner’s ‘‘ Manuel du Voyageur,” 455 Kane Geyser, or Spouting Well, 115 Kangaroo, Alfred Morris, 302 Karmarsch, Intended Erection of a Statue to, 89 Kayser (Herr), the Influence of Temperature on Tuning Forks, 24, Kank (A. H.), Who was Prince Alumayii? 61; the Turko- mans, 110 ; Finnic Ethnology, 179 ; Afyhan Ethnology, 276; Bonwick’s ‘‘ Who are the Irish?” 464 Keeling Islands, H. O. Forbes on, 118 i Kempe (A. B.), How to Colour a Map with Four Colours, 399 Kent Chalk, Vertical Shafts in the, 13; F. C. Spurrell, 66 Kertch, Russian Peninsula of, Interesting Discovery on, 215 Kessler (Prof.), ‘‘ Law of Mutual Help,” 285 Kew, Royal Gardens, Study of Botany at, 262 Kiesenwetter (Hellmuth von), Death of, 523; Obituary Notice of, 538 Kinahan (G. H.), Silurian Fossils in the ‘Lower Old Red Sandstone” of the Curlew Mountain District, 55 | King (Dr.), the Para Rubber Plants, 238 King (Capt. H.), Ice-Filaments, 302 P King and Rowney (Profs), on the Origin of the Mineral, Struc- tural, and Chemical Characters of Ophites and Related Rocks, 52 ‘ Khun (Dr. E., F.R.S.), on Dr, Chas. Roy’s Report on the Pathological Histology of Epizodtic Pleuropneumonia, 175 Knipping’s (E.) Tokié, Account of Three Typhoons, 142 Keenig’s Tuning-Fork Experiments, 117 Keenig’s Collection at the Philadelphia Exhibition, Henry Morton, 368 Kohlrausch (Herr), Membranes in Sounding Columns, 309 Kolumbaes Flies and Hungarian Earthquakes, Julius Petho, 202 Konig (Dr.), his New Acoustical Instrument, 21 Krause (Ernst), ‘‘ Erasmus Darwin,” 245 Kuntze (Dr. Otto), Does Sargassum Vegetate in the Open Sea ? $0 & 1epas 7 e “sy é ¢ i, € , May 27, 1880] INDEX Xi _ Lake Constance, Tidal Phenomenon in, Samuel J. Capper, 397 ; Dr, F. A. Forel, 443 Lakes, Italian and Tessin, Pelagic Fauna of, 525 Lamb*(Horace), Treatise on the Mathematical Theory of the Motion of Fluids, 342 Land Shells of the Austral Islands, 108 Landauer’s ‘‘ Blowpipe Analysis,” 392 Landolt (Prof, H.) in the Chair of Chemistry at the New Agri- cultural College of Berlin, 357 Langley (J. N.), Pepsine-forming Glands, 169 Lankester (Prof. E. Ray), ‘* The Crayfish: an Introduction ot the Study of Zoology,” T. H. Huxley, F.R.S., 353; the Medusz, 413; the Destruction of Insect Pests, an Unforeseen | Application of the Results of Biological Investigation, 447 ; an American Sea-Side Laboratory, 497 ; Does Chlorophyll Decompose Carbonic Acid ? 557 : “*Law of Mutual Help,” Prof. Kessler on, 285 Layard (E. L.), the Papau, 201 ; Weaver Birds and Fire-Flies, 201; Meteors in New Caledonia, 397; Subject-Cataloguing, 525 Leadville, a Glacier near, 574 x Leaves, Movement in the, of Conifers, 241 LeConte (John), Bone-Sucking—a Habit of Cattle, 12 Left Side and Right Side in Different Races, 262 Legge (James), ‘* The Sacred Books of China,” 77 Legoff (Dr.), Death of, 408 Lehmke, Archzological Discovery near, 286 Leibnitz’s Long-Lost Calculating Machine, Recovery of, 214 Leibnitz and Papin, Discovery of Original Letters by, 19 Leidy (Dr. Joseph) Receiyes the Walker Prize, 451 ; his Mono- graph on the Freshwater Rhizopods of North America, 523 Lenz (Dr. Oscar), Letter from, 242 Lepidwn, Haloporphyrus (Risso), Prof. Henry Hillyer Giglioli on, 201 Leprosy, a Cochin-China Remedy for, 19, 35 Levasseur’s (M. E.) ‘* Tour du Monde,” Geographical Game, 237 Ley (Rev. Clement), Cloud Classification, 207 ; the Tay_Bridge Storm, 468 Leyden Jars and ‘‘ Toughened” Glass, 526; the Residual Charge of, 526 : Lick Observatory, the, 47, 91 Light : Cintolesi’s Researches on, 21 ; Experimental Determina- tion of the Velocity of, by Albert A. Michelson, 94, 120, 226; a New Light Company, 115; a New Standard of, Louis Schwendler, 158 ; the Intensity of, in Varying Colours, 189 ; on a Mode of Explaining the Transverse Vibrations of, S. - Tolver Preston, 256; Lewis Wright, 370; the Transverse Propagation of, W. M. Hicks, 301 ; S. Tolver Preston, 369 ; Solar Parallax from the Velocity of, D, P. Todd, 331 ; the Reflection and Refraction of, 460; and Chemical Develop- - ment, 620 ight and Colours, Hering’s Theory of .the Vision of, Dr. W. Pole, F.R.S., 14 Light of Webb’s Planetary Nebula (DM. + 41°, 4004), Prof. Edward C. Pickering, 346 Lighthouses : Distinguishing Lights for, Sir W. Thomson, 109 ; Prof, Silvanus P. Thompson, 154; New Modes of Showing Different Characteristics over Small Arcs in Azimuth from the same Lighthouse Apparatus, T. Stevenson, 156 “ Lightning-Conductors ; their History, Nature, and Mode of Application,” by Richard Anderson, 415 Lindheimer (Ferdinand), Death of, 306 : Lindsay (Lord), a New Nebula, 80; to Astronomers, 106° Lindsay (W. Lauder, M.D.), ‘‘ Mind in the Lower Animals in Health and Disease,” 8 Linkages, J. D. C. De Roos, 441 a Society, 51, 123, 170, 219, 315, 411, 459, 483, 530, . 003 Lipari Islands, G. F. Rodwell, 400 Liquids, the Magnetisation of, 576 _ Lissauer’s (Herr), Discovery of Unopened Graves in the “ Reihen- gtaber,” 382 Literature and Science, Society for the Encouragement of, W. S. Dallas, 107; Prof, St. George Mivart, F.R.S., 107 Liveing (Prof. G. D., F.R.S.), on the Spectra of Sodium and Potassium, 170; on the Keversal of the Lines of Metallic Vapours, 193 Lizard, Jasper Cargill, 81 Lizard, Land, Remains of Gigantic, 626 Lloyd (W. A.), the Zoological Station, or Aquarium, at Naples, 5 Loanda, Arrival of Ivens and Capello at, 118 Lockwood (Samuel), How Snakes Shed their Skins, 56 ; Lockyer (J. Norman, F.R.S.), on the Necessity for a New Departure in Spectrum Analysis, 5 Loire, River, Ice in the, 286, 306 London, the Temperature of, 48 London Clay, Diatoms in, W. H.:Shrubsole, 132, 444, 538; W. H. Penning, 494 J London, Sewage of, 133 Longitudes, Trans-Atlantic, C. P, Patterson, 467 Loochoo Islands, 142 Loomis (Prof.), Isobars for the United States, 503; on Storm- Centres in the United States, 50 Lophiomys: on the ‘“‘ Habitat” of, Prof. H. Hillyer Giglioli, 201; Paul Henry Stokoe, 226 Lubbock (Sir John, F.R.S.) and Science in Parliament, 547 Lukuga Creek, 409 Luminous Paint, Balmain’s, 576 Lunar Eclipses, 117 Lunar Rings, Dr. George Berwick, 33, 155 Lunar Tables, Errors of the, 141 Lydekker (Richard), Nicholson’s “ Palzontology,” 536 Lyman (Theodore), Ophiuridz and Astrophytidz of the Chal- denger Expedition, 513 Lyons, Ice Blocks at, 330 MacCarthy (M.) Nominated President of the Geographical Society of Algiers, 73 Macdougall (Alan), Anchor-Ice, 612 Mackennal (Alex.), Intellect in Brutes, 397 McLachlan (K.), Indian Entomology, 173 Maclay Coast, New Guinea: Notes on the Papuans of, V. Ball, = 3 Further Notes upon the Papuans of, J. C. Galton, 204, 22 Maclear (Commander J. P.), Intellect in Brutes, 250 . Maclellan (Rev. J. Brown), Elected Principal of the Agricultural College, Cirencester, 162 M‘Leod (Herbert, F.R.S.), Electricity of the Blowpipe Flame, 347 McNab (W. R.), Cryptogamic Flora of Silesia, 391 Madagascar; Publication of a New Work on, 23; Rev. James Sibree, jun., on, 365 Magdeburg, Grand Agricultura] Exhibition at, 163 Magnet, on a New Action of the, on Electric Currents, 361; Lines of Force due to a Small, J. Buchanan, 370, 445 Magnets, Cast-Iron, M, Carré’s, 359 Magnetic Effects of Electric Convection, 359 Magnetic Gyroscope, De Fonvielle and Lontin, 573, 593 Magnetism, T. Murby, 106 Magneto-Electric Machine, De Meritens, and an Induction Coil, Effects produced with, Wm. Spottiswoode, P.R.S., 433 Magnus (Filip), appointed Director of City and Guilds of London Technical Institute, 524 Malakhoff on the Ural Crayfish, 454 Mallet (Robert, F.R.S.), Death of Captain Cook, 275 Mammalia of Scotland, E. R. Alston, 609 Mammalian Remains in Four Bone Caves of Upper Franconia, _ 264 Man: Osteology of, 222; Origin of, W. S. Duncan, 493; Pre- historic, in Japan, Fred. V. Dickins, 350; S. Suguira, 371 Manchester, Literary and Philosophical Society, 196, 340 Manchuria, Lead and Copper in, 48 Map of the World, Stanford’s New Library, 22 Map, how to Colour a, with Four Colours, A. B. Kempe, 399 Marangoni (Signor), on the Plasticity of Solid Substances, 21 Marat the Author of Several Essays’on Electricity, 189 Marble, Pyrenees, 165 Marbre Griotte, Dr. Barrois on, 165 Marangoni’s Theory of Crystallogenesis, 504 Mariette-Bey (M.), on the proposed Excavations in Egypt, 115 Marine Animals, an Account of some met with e# roufe to the Cape, Capt F. Proby Doughty, 32 Markham (Capt. A. H.), Comet observed by, 515; Paper on the Arctic Campaign, 1879, in the Barents Sea, 92 Marriott (W.), the Frost of December, 1879, 435 Mars : the Satellites of, 72 ; Planets of the Season—Mars, Rev. T. W. Webb, 212 ;- Physical Observations of Mars, 507 Xi Marsden (Dr. R. Sydney), Artificial Diamonds, 445 Marseilles, Lectureship of Astronomy at, 23 9 Marsh (Prof.), the Fossil Treasures at Yale College, 287 Mascart’s Method of Observation of Atmospheric Electricity, 72 | Maskelyne (Prof., F.R.S.), the asserted Artificial Production of Diamonds, 203 Mathematical Society, 75, 194, 267, 388, 483, 578 ** Mathematical Theory of the Motion of Fluids,” by Horace Lamb, Prof, Osborne Reynolds, F.R.S., on, 342 Mathematical Tables chiefly to Four Figures, J. M. Peirce, 346 Mathematics to Physics, Galileo and the Application of, -Prof. W. Jack, LL.D., 40 58 Mathématiques, Bulletin des Sciences, 152 Matter, ‘* Ideal,” Percy R, Harrison, 275 Matteucci’s proposed Exploration of Africa, 477 Maxwell (Prof. Clerk), Obituary Notice of, W. Garnett, 43; proposed Memorial to, 218 ; on a possible Mode of detecting a Motion of the Solar System through the Luminiferous Ether, 314; Prof. P. G. Tait on his Scientific Work, 317 Mayer’s (Prof. Alfred M.) ‘‘ Topophone,” 385 Mayer (John), Obituary Notice of James R. Napier, F.R.S., 206 “* Meddelelser, om Grénland, udgivne af Commissionen for Ledelsen af de geologiske og geographiske Undersogelser i Gronland,” 344 Medicinal Plants, Robert Bentley and Henry Trimen, 416 “* Medicine Past and Present,” Dr. Lauder Brunton, F.R.S., 510 Medlicott (H. B.), Mourtain Ranges, 301 Meduse, the, Prof, E. Ray Lankester, F.R.S., 413 ** Mélanges Géologiques,” 425 Melbourne Observatory, 240 Meldola (R.), Ice Filaments, 302 Meldrum (C., F.R.S.), Sun-Spots and the Rainfall of Paris, 166 Melochia parvifolia, on the Heterostylism of, Dr. A. Ernst, 217 Membranes in Sounding Columns, Herr Kohlrausch, 309 _ Memory, a Feat of, Edwyn Anthony, 562 Menlo Park, Edison’s New Electric Light at, 215, 285 Mercadier (M.), a Vibration Micrometer, 189 Mercurial Electrodes, Thermo-electric Behaviour of Aqueous Solutions with, G. Gore, F.R.S., 169 Mercury, Electrical Experiments with, 360, 526 Mercury, the Planet, observed in Paris, 474 Meritens (De), Magneto-Electric Machine and an Induction Coil, Effects produced with, Wm. Spottiswoode, P.R.S., 433 Metallic Vapours, on the Reversal of the Lines of, G. D. Liveing, F.R.S., and J. Dewar, F.R.S., 193 Metalliferous Mines and Mining, a Treatise on, D. C. Davies, 1z9 Metalloid Elements, Pictet’s proposal to Dissociate the, 445 ; Sir B. C. Brodie, 491 Metals: Chemico-Electric Relations of, in Solutions of Salts of Potassium, Dr, Geo. Gore, F.R.S., 218 5 various Conductivity of, 243 Meteors: 518; at Strassburg, 48; the November, Kev. S. J. Perry, F.R.S., 55; Meteors on October 19, 164; the Biela Comet Meteors, 71, 240; J. S. Thomson, 303; in New Caledonia, E. L. Layard, 397; at Groningen, H. T. H. Groneman, 444; Meteor Showers of January 2, W. F. Denning, 527; F. ‘I. Mott, 537; Syd. Evershed on a, 563; Meteor Showers, W. F. Denning, 621 Meteoric Dust, a Shower of, 574 Meteorite, a remarkable, 574 Meteorology: Sun-spots in earnest, Prof. A, Winnecke, 10; proposed Meteorological Observatory on Mont Ventoux, 18 ; Meteorological Notes, 48, 142, 264, 384, 503; the Paris Stations, 71; Meteorological Society, 123, 195, 363, 455, 507; a possible Consequence of our Present Weather, W. Mattieu Williams, 130; New Meteorological Station at Prato, 140; French Meteorologists on the Severe Winter, 140; the Chinese Typhoons, 141; Prof. Nipher’s ‘‘ Missouri Weather Service Report,” 142; the Temperatures of the Atlantic, 142 ; Meteorology of South Australia, 281; Aratus’ ‘‘Skies and Weather Forecasts,” 329; Col. Ward on the Meteorology of Switzerland, 329; International Meteorological Conference at Sydney, 382; Meteorological Phenomena of India, F. Chambers, 384; Meteorological Report, Scotland, Prof. Piazzi Smyth’s, 407; New Journal of Meteorology and Astronomy, ‘‘ Ciel et Terre,” 424; the Briangon Observatory, . 452; the United States Signal Service and the German Government, 473; H. F. Blanford on the Barometric See- INDEX AAA [Nature, May 27, 1880 Saw between Russia and India in the Sun-spot cycle, 477; U.S. Weather Maps, 500; Canada Monthly Weather Review, 503; Loomis’ Isobars for United States, 503; the Annual Variation of the Barometer in India, S. A. Hill, 513; Prof. Balfour Stewart, F.R.S., on the Long Period Inequality in Rainfall, 541 Methyl Chloride, Manufacture of from Beet-root, Prof. C. Vincent, 358 Metric Commission, the International, 423 Meyer (Dr. A. B.), Exploration of Timor, 108 Meyer’s Spectrum, Analytical Comparison of Gas, Sun, Day, and the Electric Light, 504 Mica, the Chemical Monoyraphy of, 526 Michelson (Albert A.), Experimental Determination of the Velocity of Light, 94, 120, 226 Micrometer, M. Mercadier’s Vibration, 189 Microscopical Society, Journal of the Royal, 27 Microscopic Serenade, Jacob F. Henrici, 112 Microscopic Structure of Scottish Rocks, 333 Miers (John, F.R.S.), Dr. Henry Trimen, 11; his Bequest to the British Museum, 71 Miksche’s (Herr), Account of Waterspouts off Cape Spada, 265 Milk, Something about, 402 Miller (Mrs. Fenwick), an Atlas of Anatomy, 9 Mills (Edmund J., F.R.S.), Chemical Repulsion, 290 Milne (Prof.), his Method of Detecting Seismic Trembling, 382 Milner (James W.), Death of, 329 Mind in the Lower Animals, by Lauder Lindsay, M.D., George J. Romanes, 8 Mineral Deposits, Dr, Albrecht von Groddeck on, 174 Mineralogical Society of Great Britain and Ireland, 28, 524, 580 Mines and Mining, Metalliferous, a Treatise on, D, C. Davies, 129 Minié (M. Claude Etienne), Death of, 162 Minor Planets, 20, 249, 359, 475 Mission, the Second Yarkand, 389 “« Missions Catholiques,” 477 ‘¢ Missouri Weather Service Report,” Prof. Nipher’s, 142 Mitchinson (Alexander), his return from Africa, 288 Mivart (Prof. St. George, F.R.S.), Society for the ment of Literature and Science, 107 ‘Modern Chromatics, with Applications to Art and Industry,” by Ogden N. Rood, Prof. Silvanus Thompson on, 78, 395 Moldavia, Earthquakes in, 524 Molecular Velocity of Gases, 201; L. Hajnis, 302 Molecules, the Mean Free Path of, 537 Momentum and Force, 108 . ‘‘Monatshefte fiir Chemie und verwandte Theile anderer Wissenschaften,” Vienna, 407 Moncrieffe (Sir Thomas), Proposed Memorial to, 237 Mongolia, Exploration of, 118 Monkeys in the West Indies, Edmund Watt, 131; P.| L. Sclater, F.R.S., 1533; John Imray, 371 - Mont Ventoux, Proposed Meteorological Observatory on, 18 Monti’s (M. Michelangiolo) ‘‘ Acoustico-Electrical Kaleido- scope,” 359 Montigny (M.), on the Supernumerary or Spurious Rainbows, Encourage- 267 Montreal, McGill University, Gift to, 595 Monuments, Ancient, in France, 115 Moore (Capt. P.), Ornithological Tables, 440 Morgan (H. A.), a Clever Spider 276 Morgue, the Paris, and Artificial Cold Processes, 19 Morin (Gen.), Obituary Notice of, 349 3 Morphine, Reaction for, 360 ‘*Morphologisches Jahrbuch,” 75, 530 . Morren’s (Prof. E.) ‘‘ Correspondance Botanique,” 141 Morris (Alfred), the Kangaroo, 302 Morse (Prof, Edward § ), the Omori Shell-Mounds, 561 Morton (George H.), ‘*The Carboniferous Limestone and Cefn-y-Fedw Sandstone of the Country between Llanymynech and Minera, North Wales,” 105 Morton (Henry), Keenig’s Collection at the Philadelphia Ex- hibition, 368 Mosasauroid Reptiles, New, 308 : Moseley (H. N., F.R.S.), Easter Island, 32 ; Deep-Sea Dredg- ing and Life in the Deep Sea, 543, 569, 591 Moser (Dr. Ludwig), Death of, 473 Moths, Bees Eeating Entrapped, 308 Motion of Fluids, Prof. Osborne Reynolds, F.R.S., 342 “Mott (Albert J.), Easter Island, 11; ‘‘ Encyclopaedia Britan- | Niagara Falls, Proposed International Park near, 140 nica,” the Nile, 155 Mott (F. T.), Meteors, 53 4 ; _ Mouchez (Admiral), the Small Planets Observed at Greenwich, 5 SOR _ Moulton (J. Fletcher), ‘‘ Scientific Jokes,” 368 Mount Unzen, Is it a Volcano? H. B. Guppy, 153 Mount Hekla, Ascent of, for Geological Investigations, 286 _ Mountains of the Northern and Western Frontier of India, Trelawney W. Saunders, 96 Mountain Building, Dr. F. Pfaff, 325 Mountain Ranges, H. B. Medlicott, 301; Trelawney W. Saunders, 347 Monrlon (Dr. Michel), Geology of Belgium, 287 Mouth, Hearing through the, Wm. Chappell, 250 Movement in the Leaves of Conifers, 241 Muir (M. M. Pattison), Chemical Equilibrium, 516 Muk-Su River, Exploration of, 476 : cage Mr. Alfred yon Glehn, on the Recent Severe Weather at, I Miiller (Dr. Hermann), Fertilisers of Alpine Flowers, 275 Miiller (Prof. Max), on the Functions of Universities, 13; “The Sagan 77; on the Jade Scraper discovered at Geneva, 107 Miller (Dr. N. J. C.), ‘‘ Handbuch der Botanik,” 559 Munich, Geographical Society of, 73 Munro (Gen., C.B.), a Learned Botanist, 357 Maurby (T.), Magnetism, 106 Museum Conference, Proposed, 442; J. Romilly Allen, 468 ; Academicus, 492; E. Howarth, 492; James Paton, 514; J Romilly Allen, 515 Musical Scale, Animals and the, Dr. W. Pole, F.R.S., 11 Musical Pitch, 533; the History of, Alex. J. Ellis, F.R.S., 550 Musical Sounds within the Ear, Dr. A. Ernst, 589 Myriapod, New Genus of, 93 Mythologic Philosophy, Prof. J. W. Powell, 312, 333 Nachtigal (Dr. Gustav), Sahara and Sudan, 198 Naiguata, Mount, Ascent of, 598 Napier (James R., F.R.S.), Obituary Notice of, John Mayer, 206 Naples Zoological Station, 524; the Zoological Station, or Aquarium, W, A. Lloyd, 537 Nathusius (Eerr von), the late, his Valuable Library, 162 , National Academy, U.S., Wm. C. Wyckoff, 143 Natural History Discoveries, Thomas Bolton’s, 81 Natural History, Cassell’s, Edited by P. Martin Duncan, F.R.S., 135 Rael History of the Ancients, Rev. W. Houghton, M.A., 151 Natural History of the Transit of Venus Expedition, 259 Natural Science in Sweden, Prof, Nordenskjold on, 518, 539, 563 Naval Architects, the Institution of, 485 Neapolitans and Prof. Nordenskjéld, 189 Nebulz: New, 71, 80; Discovery of a Gaseous, Rev. T. W. Webb, 111 ; New, in Eridanus, 117 ; Periodical Variations in the Brightness of, 307; the Spectra of, 576 Negritoes in Borneo, A. Hart Everett, 588 Nejd, Mr. Wilfrid S. Blunt’s Account of a Journey to, 142 ** Neridah,” M. W. de Fonvielle’s New Novel, 239 Neumayr (Herr M.), on the Island of Cos, 192 ; the Thessalian Olympus, 192 Neumayer’s (Dr.) ‘‘Zur Kenntniss der Fauna des untersten Lias ~ in den Nordalpen,” 368 Neva, Dates of the Freezing of, 140; A. Woeikof, 249 New Caledonia: Gold Discoveries in, 20; Meteors in, E. L, Layard, 397; Cyclone in, 574 New England Isopods, 309 New Guinea, O. C. Stone’s Work on, 64 New South Wales, Linnean Society of, 505 New York Herald and Greenwich Observatory, 524 New Zealand, Notes from, 192 Newall (R. S., F.R.S.), Flow of Viscous Materials, 202 ; Car- nivorous Wasps, 494 Newberry’s (Prof.) ‘‘ Geological Survey of the Fortieth Parallel,” 141 4 Newcomb (Prof. Simon), the Fundamental Definitions and Pro- positions of Geometry, with Especial Reference to the Syllabus iD of the Association for the Improvement of Geometrical Teach- ing, 293 ee xili Nice, M. Bischofsheim’s New Observatory at, 19, 407 Nicholls (H. A. Alford), Volcanic Eruption in Dominica, 372 Nichols (Dr. E. L.), on the Intensity of the Rays Emitted by Glowing Platinum, 267 Nicholson’s (Prof. Alleyne) Palzontology, 297; Richard Lydek- ker, 536; Tabulate Corals, 490 Nicobarese Ideographs, 555 Niesten (M.), Red Spot of Jupiter, 407 Niger, River, Discovery of the Sources of the, 73, 92 ; the Binué Branch of the, Exploration of, 504 Nile, the, ‘‘ Encyclopzedia Britannica,” Albert J, Mott, 155 Nipher’s (Prof,) ‘‘ Missouri Weather Service Report,” 142 Nordenskjéld (Prof.) : Expedition, 288, 385 ; Absence of Scurvy in, 216; and the Neapolitans, 189; Arrangements for the Reception of, in France, 409 ; his Collections, 427 ; and the Royal Geographical Society, 477, 504; Arrival in London, 526 ; a Leaf from the History of Swedish Natural Science, 518, 539, 563; in Paris, 549; at Stockholm, 619 North American Ethnology, W. L, Distant, 247 North American Indians, 596 Norton (Dr. T. H.), Diffusion of Copper in the Animal King- dom, 305; Vesbium, 420 Noury (M.), Important Discovery by, 187 Novaya Zemlya, Lieut. Tjagin’s Sojourn in, 165 November Meteors, Rev. S. J. Perry, F.R.S., 55 Nudeln (A. V.), on the Potential Dimensions of Differentiated Energy, 185 Numerals, Visualised, Francis Galton, F.R.S., 252, 323, 494 Nuovo Giornale Botanico Italiano, 99 ; Nyt Magazin for Naturvidenskaberne, 51, 338 Observatory : School of Astronomy at the Paris, 19 ; in France, 45t; M. Bischofsheim’s New, 19; Proposed New, in Cali- fornia, 47; Algiers, 263 ; Melbourne, 240; Harvard College, 359 ; Oceanic Basins, the Antiquity of, Prof. Alex. Agassiz, 587 ; Dr. W. B. Carpenter, F.R.S., 609 Old Red Sandstone, Crustacea in the, 241 Olive Oil, Detection of Adulteration in, 70 Olympia, the Excavations at, 140 O’Meara (Rev. Eugene), Obituary Notice of, 423 Omori Shell-Mounds, Charles Darwin, F.R.S., 561; Prof. E. S. Morse, 561; F. V. Dickins, 610 Oospores of Vo/vox minor, 93 Ophiolepis mirabilis, Prof, P, Mactin Duncan, F.R.S., on, 590, 610 Ophites and Related Rocks, the Origin of the Mineral, Struc- tural, and Chemical Characters of, Professors King and Rowney, 529 Ophiuridz and Asterophytide of the Challenger Expedition, Theodore Lyman, 513 Orbits of Binary Stars, 141 Orbit of a Satellite, Secular Changes in the Elements of the, Revolving about a Planet Distorted by Tides, G. H. Darwin, F.R.S., 235 Orchid, Iconographical History of the, M. E. de Puydt, 357 Ord (Dr. W. M.), ‘‘ The Influence of Colloids upon Crystalline Form gnd Cohesion,” 586 Origin of Man, W. S. Duncan, 493 < Orion-Trapezium, a Seventh Star of the, 17; Prof. Holden, 286 “Ornis” of Berlin, its Biennial Exhibition, 4c8 Ornithological Tables, Moore’s, 440 Oshanin’s Exploration of the Muk-su River, 476 Osteological Collection, Dr. Barnard Davis, F.R.S., 186 Osteology of Man, 222 Ox Waggon, Eight Months in an, E. F. Sandeman, 346 Oxford, Natural Science at, 26, 289, 603 Oxus, Russian Exploration of the, 92 Ozone, Clement L, Wragge, 537 Packard (Prof. A. S.), Zoology for Students, 465 Paint, Balmain’s Luminous, 576 Palzontology, American, Yale College and, ror “Paleontology,” Prof. Alleyne Nicholson's, 297; Richard Lydekker, 536; Schimper and Zittel’s ‘‘ Handbook of Palz- ontology,” 569 X1V Palestine, the New Map of, 620 Papin and Leibnitz, Dr. Gerland’s Discovery of Original Letters by, 19 Papau, the, E. L. Layard, 201 Papuans, Notes upon, of Maclay Coast, New Guinea, J. C. » Galton, 204, 226; V. Ball, 251 Para, Rubber Plants, Dr. King on, 238 Parallax of a Small Star, 117 Parallax, the Solar, 141 | ** Parasol” Ants of Texas; how they cut and carry Leaves: Origin of Castes by Evolution, G. T. Bettany, 17 Parfitt (Edward), Sun-Spots, &c., 324 Paris: Anthropological Society of, Felyx-Denys-Rapontayabo’s Letter to the, 19; School of Astronomy at the Observatory, 19; the Lenses of the Great Refractor at the, 500 ;° Appoin - ment of astronome titulare, 475; the Use of Ice im’the Morgue, 19; the Telephone in, 20; Academy of Sciences, 28, 52, 76, 100, 124, 148, 172, 219, 244, 268, 292, 316, 340, 364, 388, 412, 436, 484, 508, 532, 556, 580, 604, 628; Archives of the, 71; Statistics of the Members, 573; M. Perrier ap- pointed a Member of, 237; Prizes of, 421 ; Meteorological Commission, 47; the Meteorological Stations in, 71 ; Scheme for erecting a Memorial of the Siege of, 115; Geographical Society, 118; Bulletin, 266, 428; Gas-Lighting in, some Statistics of, 140; Snow-storm in, 140; the Frost in, 162; the Rainfall of, and Sun-Spots, C. Meldrum, F.R.S., 166; the Thaw in, 239; Gas and Electricity in, W. de Fonvielle, 282; Experiments in Electric Lighting in, 307; Electric Light in, 423; Exhibition of 1878, Artisan Reports on, Prof, Silvanus P. Thompson, 397 ; the Damage to Trees by Frost, 501; Physical Society, 548 . Parker (T. Jeffery), Scottish Zoological Station, 159; ‘‘ On the Histology of Hydra fusca,” 244 7 Parker (Prof. W.K., F.R.S.), Series of Lectures at the Royal College of Surgeons, 329 Passivity of Iron, M. Louis Varenne on the, 117 Pasteur’s ‘‘ Studies on Fermention; the Diseases of Beer, their Causes, and the Means of Preventing them,” 274 Paterno, Appearance of a Small Crater near, 382 Paterson (W. G. Spence), Earthquakes in Iceland, 132 Pathological Histology of Epizodtic Pleuropneumonia, by Chas. S. Roy, M.D., Dr. E. Klein, F.R.S., on, 175 ; Paton (Jas.), a Museum Conference, 442, 514 Patterson (C. P.), Trans-Atlantic Longitudes, 467 Pavesi (Prof.), on the Pelagic Fauna of the Lakes of Tessin and Italy, 525 Peal (S. E.), Intellect in Brutes, 34; Voice in Fish, 55 Pegasi, the Close Binary 85, 240 : Peirce (C. S.), Mutual Attraction of Spectral Lines, 108 - Peirce (J. M.), ‘‘ Mathematical Tables chiefly to Four Figures,” 346 C Pelagic Fauna of Italian and Tessin Lakes, 525 Pendulum, Employment of the, for Determining the Figure of the Earth, Major J. Herschel, 599 Penning (W. H.), ‘‘Text Book of Field Geology,” Second Edition of, 264; Diatoms in the London Clay, 494 Pepsine-forming Glands, 169 Percy (Dr.), his Resignation of the Lectureship on Metallurgy, "162 Perforated Stones in River Beds, W. Curran, 348 Pergamon, Archzological Investigations at, Prof. Conze on, 408 Perini (N.), New Planetarium, 111, 568 Periodicity of Rainfall, Result of an Inquiry into the, G, M. Whipple, 338 Perrier (M.) Appointed a Member of the Academy of Sciences, 237 Perry (John) and W. E. Ayrton, on Seeing by Electricity, 589 Perry (Rev. S. J., F.R.S.), the November Meteors, 55 Persia, the Existence of a Blonde Race in, 266 Petermann’s Mittheilungen, 49, 242, 361, 455 Petermann (Dr. August), Monument to, 451 Pethé (Julius), Hungarian Earthquakes and the Kolumbacs Flies, 202 Petrie (W. M. Flinders), Carbon and Water Figures, 225 Petrographical Descriptions of the Caucasian Region, Dr. Abich’s, 287 Petrography in Spain, 165 Pettenkofer (Prof.) of Munich, Royal Order of the Crown * Bestowed on, 424 Pfaff (Dr. F.), ‘* Der Mechanismus der Gebirgbildung,” 325 INDEX (Nature, May 27, 1880 Pfeiffer’s (M.), Electric Toy, 267° Phenomenon, a Strange, R. E. Harris, 409 Philadelphia Exhibition, Kcenig’s Collection at the, Henry Morton, 368 Philadelphia, American Philosophical Society Centenary, 500 Philadelphia Academy, 627, 628 Philosophy, Mythologic, Prof. J. W. Powell, 312, 333 Phonograph, Forms Produced in the, Signor Fautrier on, 21 ; M. C. E. Séguin fils, on the Invention of the, 266 Phosphorescence, Ralph Copeland, 33; Experiments on, 287 Photographic Process, New, discovered in Japan, 243 Photographic Spectra of Stars, W. Huggins, F.R.S., on, 269 Photographic Society, 364, 436, 507 Photography, the New Hydrogen Lines Observed by the Star Lines, and the Dissociation of Calcium, Dr. H, W. Vogel, 410 Photometry, Celestial, 23 Phylloxera in the French Vine-growing Districts, 356, 452, 597; in the Vines of Cape Colony, 356; in Sicily, 452 Physics, Galileo and the Application of Mathematics to, Prof. W. Jack, LL.D., 40, 58 Physics, Lecture Notes on, by C. Bird, 153 Physical Notes, 21, 72, 117, 189,242, 266, 287, 309, 359, 385, 408, 426, 526, 575 Physical Society, 75, 147, 194, 339, 363, 411, 506, 531, 627 Physiology, Voca), and Hygiene, by Gordon Holmes, Dr. William Pole on, 271 . Pickard-Cambridge’s (Rev. O.) Spiders of Dorset, 273 Pickering (Prof. Edward C.), Light of Webb’s Planetary Nebula (DM. + 41°, 4004), 346; Harvard College Observa- tory, 359 iy te . Pictet’s Proposal to Dissociate the Metalloid Elements, 445 Pictet (Raoul), on the Artificial Production of Cold, 524 Pilous System in Man, 424 Piscicultural, International, Exhibition at Berlin, 193 Pitch, Musical, 533 ; the History of, Alex. J. Ellis, F.R.S., 550 Planetary Nebula (DM + 41° 4004), Light of Webb’s, Prof. Edward C. Pickering, 346 Planetarium, a New, N. Perini, £11, 568 Planets, Minor, 20, 240, 359, 475; the Red Spot upon Jupiter, 20; Saturn, T. W. Webb, 87; Mars, Rev. T. W. Webb, 212; on the Secular Changes in the Elements of the Orbit of a Satellite Revolving about a Planet Distorted by Tides, G. H. Darwin, F.R.S., 235; the Intra-Mercurial Planet Question, Prof. Lewis Swift, 299 ; the Small Planets observed at Greenwich, Admiral Mouchez, 407; Mercury observed in Paris, 474 Plantamour (Prof.), on the Temperature of St. Bernard, 330 Planté (M. Gaston), his Researches on Voltaic Electricity, 21 ; Prof. Silvanus P. Thompson, 150; Improvements in Planteé’s Secondary Batteries, 409 Plants, Chronological History of, Prof..A. H. Sayce, 104 Plants, Effects of Uninterrupted Sunlight on, 311 Plants, Medicinal, Robert Bentley and Henry Trimen, 416 Plasticity of Solid Substances, Signor Marangoni on, 21 Platinum, Intensity of the Rays emitted by Glowing, Dr. E. L. Nichols on, 267 Platysomid Fishes, R. H. Traquair, 55 Pleuropneumonia, Epizodtic, Report on the Pathological Histology, of, by Dr. Chas, Roy, Dr. E. Klein, F.R.S., 175 i Pliocene Period in England, 578 Plough, the Origin of the, 459; the largest, 597 Plymouth, publication of a Flora of, 262 Pneumatic Clocks in Paris, 500 Poéy (Prof, André), Cloud Classification, Rev. W. Clement Ley on, 207 Polariscope, Measuring, Herr E. Schneider's, 242 Pole (Dr. William, F.R.S.), Animals and the Musical Scale, 11; Hering’s Theory of the Vision of Light and Colours, 14 ; on Vocal Physiology and Hygiene, by Gordon Holmes, 271 Politics and Science, 348 Pollen, John Miers on the Action of, 11 Post (Dr. Jul.), ‘‘ Grundriss der chemischen Technologie,” 55 Post Office and the Telephone, W. H. Preece, 349 Potassium, Salts of, Chemico-Electric Relations of Metals in Solutions of, Dr. Geo. Gore, F.R.S., 218 : Pottery, Ancient American, 501 Powell (Prof. J. W.), Mythologie Philosophy, 312, 333 : Power’s ‘‘ Contributions to North American Ethnology,” W. L. -Distant, 247 He : Prato, New Meteorological Station at, 140 dure, May 27, 1880] and the Telephone, 349 Prehistoric Stations in Carniola, F, von Hochstetter and Charles Deschmann on, 192 ; Prehistoric Man in Japan, Fred. V. Dickins, 350; S. Suguira, I been (S. Tolver), on a Mode of Explaining the Transverse Vibrations of Light, 256; a Psychological Aspect of the Vortex-Atom Theory, 323; on the Mode of the Transverse Propagation of Light, 369 Primeval Cell, 332 Pringle (E. H.), the Caudal Disk, 34 Prjevalsky’s Journey in Central Asia, 165, 476, 505 5 Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, . 314 Soe (Richard B.), the Word ‘* Telegraph,” 251 _ Protagon, a Note on, Arthur Gamgee, F.R.S., 387 _ Psychological Aspect of the Vortex-Atom Theory, S. Tolver : Preston, 323 Ptyaline and Diastase, 240 Public Health Conference, 548 _ Pulkowa Observatory, the New Telescope for, 524 Putnam (F. W.), Shell-heaps of the Atlantic and Pacific Coasts % of North America, 357 ; Exploration of Ancient Mounds and Burial Places in Tennessee, 501; on Ancient American Pottery, 501 _ Puydt (M. E. de) Iconographical History of the Orchid, 357 Pyrenees Marble, 165 Quadrant Electrometer, a Novel, 310 Quarterly Journal of Microscopical Science, 314, 626 Quartzites, Tertiary, of the Ardennes, 164 Queensland, Copper in, 474 Quicksilver, Method for Freezing, 426 Radiation, Recent Experiments on, Dr. Arthur Schuster, F.R.S., 103 Rae (J.), Stags’ Horns, 349; Anchor-Ice, 538 Rainbow, a Curious, J. B. Hannay, 56 Rainbows, Supernumerary or Spurious, M. Montigny on, 267 Rainfall: Result of an Inquiry into the Periodicity of, G. M. Whipple, 338; in the Tropics, Dr. A. Woeikof, 347; of Austria-Hungary, Dr. Hann on, 385 ; of Paris and Sun-Spots, C. Meldrum, F.R.S., 166 ; on the Long Period Inequality in, Prof. Balfour Stewart, F.K.S., 541 Rammelsberg (Prof.), on the Chemical Monography of the Mica Group, 526 Ranyard (A. C.), Observations made during Total Solar Eclipses, Dr. Arthur Schuster, F.R.S., 488 ' Rayleigh’s (Lord) Election to the Chair of Experimental Physics at Cambridge, 162 Reale Istituto Lombardo di Scienze e Lettere, 290, 338, 433, 30; Prizes, 26 Revall of Sights and Tastes, Dr. A. Ernst, 611 Red Crag, the, 578 Redhouse (J. W.), ‘‘ False Dawn,” 33 Reflection of Sound Waves, New Method of Studying, Prot. O. N. Rood, 426 Regensburz (Ratisbon), Discovery of a Roman Structure at, 116 Registrar-General, Sir Brydges Henniker, Bart., Appointed, 214 y ee Herr Lissauer’s Discovery of Unopened Graves, 382 Reptiles : New Jurassic, 241 ; New Mosacauroid, 308 Repulsion, Chemical, Edmund J. Mills, F.R.S., 290 Re-Reversal of Sodium Lines, C, A. Young, 274 Research, the Local Endowment of, 487 Retina, the Human, 453 Revista de Canarias, 264 ai Geografica Internationale, New Geographical Journal, 2 Revue des Sciences Naturelles, 314 Revue d’Anthropologie, 458 Revue Internationale des Sciences, 99, 169, 362 Revue Internationale des Sciences biologiques, 530 Reynolds (Prof. Osborne, F.R.S.), ‘‘ A ‘Treatise on the Mathe- matical Theory of the Motion of Fluids,’ by Horace Lamb, sae : ‘ . Rheo tatic Machine, M. Planté’s, 21 ° INDEX xv Preece (W. H.), the Nature of Electricity, 334 ; the Post Office | Rhizopoda: a New Class of, Prof. Ernst Haeckel, 449 ; Fresh- water, Prof. Leidy’s Monograph on, 523 ~ aed (R. G.) ‘* Audiphone,” 243; Prof. Colladon on, 426, Ip 4°9 Rhone, Discovery of Interesting Objects in the Bed of the, 163 eee Richardson (Dr. B. W., F.R.S.), Fleuss’s Method of Diving and remaining under Water, 62 Ridout (R. H.), on a New Copying Process, 155 ; on Vibratory Motion in Fluids, 506 Right Side and Left Side in Different Races, 262 Riley (J. H.), Explorations in China, 455 Riley (Dr. C. V.), the Cotton-Worm, 466 River Beds, Perforated Stones in, W. Curran, 348 River Water, Prof. Tidy on, 507 Riviera, Sanitary Science in the, 382 Rivista Scientifico Industriale, 27, 458, 578 Roberts (W. Chandler, F.R.S.), Copper-Tin Alloys, 272; on the ‘‘ Flashing” in Cu elled Buttons of Gold and Silver, 531 **Rocker,” the Trevelyan, Prof. Barrett on the, 426, 507 Rocks, Upper Devonian, of the North of France, 164 Rocks, Stratified, the Structure and Origin of, H. C. Sorby, F.R.S., 431, Rodwell (G. F.), the History of Vesuvius during the Year 1879, 351; on Etna, 396; the Lipari Islands, 400; Notes from Italy and Sicily, 457 f Rohlfs’ (Dr. Gerhard) Expedition in North Africa, 23, 49, 241 ; Arrival at Rome, 216 Roland (Arthur), ‘‘ Farming for Pleasure and Profit,” 534 Roman Structure, Recent Discovery of, at Regensburg (Ratis- bon), 116 Romanes (George J., F.R.S.), Mind in the Lower Anima's, by W. Lauder Lindsay, M.D., 8 Rome, Science Teaching in, 458 Rood’s (Prof. Ogden N.), “‘ Modern Chromatics, with Applic1- tions to Art and Industry,”’ Prof. Silvanus Thompson on, 78, 395 ; New Method of Studying the Reflexion of Sound Waves, 42 Roos (J. D. C. De), Linkages, 441 Roots, the Action of Salts on Water-Absorption by, 576 Ross (Col. W. A.), Electricity of the Blowpipe ‘‘ Flame,” 275 Roth (W. E.), the ‘‘ Gastric Mill” of the Crayfish, 395 Roy (Dr. Chas.), Report on the Pathological Histology of Epi- zootic Pleuropneumonia, 175 Royal College of Surgeons, Prof. W. K, Parker, F.R.S., Series of Lectures at, 329 Royal Institution, Lectures at, 239, 523 Royal Microscopical Society, 99, 195, 358, 434, 556; Journal, 432 Royal Society, 99, 123, 146, 169, 193, 218, 244, 267, 290, 314, 338, 362, 387, 433, 482, 506, 555, 626; Officers, &c., 46; Medals, 69 ; proposed Arrangements for the Friday Evening Lectures, 114; Anniversary Meeting of, 118; the New Fellows, 616 Royal Geographical Society, see Geography Rowney and King (Professors), on tae Origin of the Mineral, Structural, and Chemical Characters of Ophites and Related Rocks, 529 Riidinger’s (Prof.) Anatomical Model, 306 Russia: Russian Geographical Socicty, 22, 118, 522, 620; Works Recently Published by the, 23; Isvestia, 311 ; Medals of the, 428 ; Journal of Rus ian Chemical and Physical So- ciety, 75 ; Annual Meeting of, 285; Sixth Congress of Rus- sian Naturalists, 288 ; Scheme for Introducing the Gregorian Calendar into Russia, 408; the Barometric See-Saw between Russia and India in the Sun-Spot Cycle, H. F, Blauford, 477 Rutenburg (Dr. Chr.), Stone Monument to, 73 Rye (E. C.), Zoological Record, 467 Rylcke (M.), Measurements on the Levels of the Baltic and Black Seas, 73 Sabine (Lady), Obituary Notice of, 114 F ** Sacred Books of the East,” Edited by F. Max Miiller, Vols. I., IL., ILL, Prof..A. H. Sayce, 77 Sadebeck (Dr. Alexander), Death of, 215 Safety-Valves of Boilers, 189 Sahara and Sudan, Dr. Gustav Nachtizal, 198; French Expe- dition for Exploring, 310; Formation of an Algerian Com- pany for Cultivating the, 424 - Saidapet Experimental Farm Manual and Guide, C. Benson, 54 Xvi St. Bernard, Prof. Plantamour on the Temperature of, 330 St. Andrews, University of, its Want of Funds, 548 St. Gothard Tunnel, 163, 215, 423; Statistics of, 452; Adolphe Gautier on the, 581 St. Kitts, Floods in, 330 Saint Martin, the Canal, Ice on, 307 St. Petersburg Geographical Society, 311 : Sakis, several Settlements of, in the Highlands of. Eastern Perak, 190 Salses of Mount Etna, 241 , Sandeman (E. F.), ‘‘ Eight Months in an Ox Waggon,” 346 Sandstone, Lower Old Ked, Silurian Fossils in, G. H. Kinahan, non Old Red, Crustacez in the, 241 Sanitary Institute, Congress and Exhibition at Croydon, 18 ; Prize Essay of, 216 San Salvador, Earthquake in, 452 Sapphire Mines, Newly Discovered, in Siam, 49, 90 Sarasin (E.), the Seiches of the Swiss Lakes, 427 Sargassum, Does it Vegetate in the Open Sea? Dr. Otto Kuntze, 80; Dr. J. J. Wild, 107 : Satellite, Secular Changes in the Elements of the Orbit of a, Revolving about a Planet Distorted by Tides, G. H. Darwin, F.R.S., 235 Saturn, T. W. Webb, 87 Saumur, Ice-Blocks at, 330 Saunders (Trelawney W.), on the Mountains of the Northern and Western Frontier of India, 96, 347 «« Sauranodon,” Discovery of a New Species of, 425 Saxony, Geological Survey of, 475 Sayce (Prof. A. H.), the ‘‘ Sacred Books of the East,”’ Edited by F. Max Miiller, 77; his Health, 89; Chronological History of Plants, 104 ; the History of Writing, 378, 404 Scale of Colours, L. Blometield (late Jenyns), 201 Scheffer (Dr. R. H. C. C.), Death of, 523 Schianarelli’s Work on the Planet Mars, a German Translation of, 26 spire (Prof, Wilhelm Philipp), ,Death of, 523; Obituary Notice of, 573 Schimper and Zittel’s ‘‘ Handbuch der Palzontologie,” 509 Schlemiiller (W.), the Temperature of the Airat Various Levels, | 176 Schneider’s (Herr E.) Measuring Polariscope, 242 Schomburgk (Dr.), ‘‘On the Naturalised Weeds and other Plants in South Australia,” 263; on the Urari, the Deadly Arrow-Poison of the Macusis, 560 School of Mines Quarterly, New American Journal, 164 School Statistics of Europe, 432 Schiibeler (Prof.), on the Effects of Uninterrupted Sunlight on Plants, 311 Schuster (Dr. Arthur, F.R.S.), Recent Experiments on Radia- tion, 183; Ranyard’s Total Solar Eclipse Observations, 488 Schwendler (Louis), a New Standard of Light, 158 Science and Literature, Society for the Encouragement of, W. S. Dailas, 107; Prof. St. George Mivart, F.R.S., 107 Science of Statesmanship, 295 Science and Politics, 348 Scientific American, 72 S ientific Jokes, 349, 368, 396 Selater (P. L., F.R.S.), the Exploration of Socotra, 153; Monkeys in the West Indies, 153 Scorpion Suicide? Dr. R. F. Hutchinson, 226; F, Gillman, 275, 302; W. Curran, 325 ; Scotland: the Fossil Fishes of, Dr. R. H. Traquair, 428; Mammalia of, E. R. Alston, 6cg ; Scottish Zoological Station, T. Jeffery Parker, 159 ; Scottish Naturalist, 74 ; Microscopic Structure of Scottish Rocks, 333 Screw, Song of the, Prof. J. D, Everett, F.R.S., 349 Scudder (Samuel H.), Catalogue of Scientific Serial<, 89 Sea-side Laboratory, an American, Prof. E. Ray Lankester, F.R.S., 497 Secchi (Father), Marble Medallion of, 89 Secular Changes in the Elements of the Orbit of a Satellite Revolving about a Planet Distorted by Tides, G. H. Darwin, F.R.S., 235 Seebach (Karl von), Obituary Notice of, 349 Seeing by Electricity, 576; John Perry and W. E. Ayrton, 589 ; J. E. H. Gordon, 610 Séguin (M. C. E. fils), on the Invention of the Phonograph, 266 Sc.ches of the Swiss Lakes, E, Sarasin on the, 427 INDEX [Nalure; May 27, 1880 Sensation, Alternative Interpretation of, Fred. D, Brown, 177 Senses, a Speculation regarding the, 323, 348 Sensitive Nerves, Stimuli in, 454 : Sepulchral Vessels, M. Zaborowski’s Discovery of, on the Banks of the Lower Vistula, 262 Sewage of London, 133 Sewage Farming in France, 617 Sewall (H.), Pepsin-forming Glands, 169 Sexual Colours of Certain Butterflies, Charles Darwin, F.R.S., 237 Shadow, a Spectral, on Mist, 216 Shafts in the Kent Chalk, F. C. Spurrell, 66 Sharpey (Dr. William, F.R.S.), Obituary Notice of, 567 - Shells, Land, of the Austral Islands, 108 Shell-Heaps of the Atlantic and Pacific Coasts of North America, _ F. W. Putnam on, 357 Shell-Mounds, the Omori, Charles Darwin, F.R.S., 561 ; Prof. Edward S. Morse, 561; F. V. Dickins, 610 Ships, a New Telegraphic Arrangement for, 20 Shiwotsu and Tsuruga, New Railway between, 190 Shrubsole (W. H.), Diatoms in London Clay, 132, 444, 538 Siam, Newly-Discovered Sapphire Mines in, 49, 90 pene (Rev. James, jun.), the Great African Island, Madagascar, 305 Sicily and Italy, Notes from, G. T. Rodwell, 457 Siebold (Freiherr yon), Monument to, at Wiirzburg, 285 Siemens (Dr. C. W., F.R.S.), Vegetation under Electric Light, 438, 456; Epigram on, 473; on the Dynamo-Electric Current and on certain Means to improve its Steadiness, 482 Sights and Tastes, Recall of, Dr. A. Ernst, 611 Silesia, Cryptogamic Flora of, W. B. McNab, 391 Silone’s Form of Electrometer, 427 Silurian Fossils in the Curlew Mountains, Prof. E. Hull, F.R.S., 32; G. H. Kinahan, 55 Simpson (Sir W. G., Bart.), the Paces of the Horse, 55 Simpson (George Wharton), Death of, 284 ‘* Sin,” the First, 154 Singing Condensers, Researches on, 359 Sitzungsberichte der naturwissenschaftlichen Gesellschaft Isis in Dresden, 290 £ Sizing and Mildew in Cotton Goods, G. E. Davis, C, Dreyfus, and P. Holland, 298 Skulls, M. le Bon’s Observations on, 285 Smith (Worthington G.), Carnivorous Wasps, 563 Smyth (Prof. Piazzi), Sunshine Cycles, 248; Meteorological Keport, Scotland, 407; the Aurora at Last, 492; Auroral Response in America, 609 Snakes, the Caudal Disk in, E, H. Pringle, 34; how They shed their Skins, Samuel Lockwood, 56 Snow-Storm in Paris, 140 Society of Arts, 47, 89, 285 Society of Telegraph Engineers, 196 Society Islands, Cyclone in, 574 e Socotra, the Exploration of, 153, 237, 504, 515, 616 Sodium Lines, Re-Reversal of, C. A. Young, 274 Sodium and Potassium, on the Spectra of, Prof. G. D. Liveing, F.R.S., 170; Prof, J. Dewar, F.R.S., 170 Soil, Temperature of the, during Winter, 523 Solar Eclipses: Re-Discussion of Ancient, 141; Total, of January 11, 287; Total, in the next Decade, 308; Solar Eclipse Observations, Collated by A. C. Ranyard, Dr, Arthur Schuster, F.R.S., 488 Solar Spectrum, Capt. Abney on the Photographic Method of Mapping, 367 Solar System, a possible Mode of detecting a Motion of the, through the Luminiferous Ether, J. Clerk Maxwell, 314 Solar Parallax, 141; from the Velocity of Light, D, P. Todd, 331 Solar Phenomenon, Ralph Copeland, 225 Solids, the Solubility of Gases in, Hannay and Hogarth, 499 Sollas (W. J.), a Method of Calculating the Expansion of a Substance on Vaporisation, 492 Solubility of Gases in Solids, Hannay and Hogarth, 499 Somerville (Miss Martha Charters), Death of, 46 ‘* Song of the Screw,” Prof, J. D, Everett, F.R.S., 349 Song of Birds, 590, 612 Sorby (H. C., F.R.S.), the Structure and Origin of Stratified Rocks, 431 South Australia, the Naturalised Weeds and other Plants in, Dr, Schomburgk on, 263 | | outhern Comet, 384, 425, 475, 502, 525, 575, 597,618 pace, Temperature of, and its Bearing on Terrestrial Physics, James Croll, 521 Spain, Petrography in, 165 Spectrum Analysis : on the Necessity for a New Departure in, J. Norman Lockyer, F.R.S., 5 ; Some Points in the History of, Dr. B. Stewart, F.R.S., 35; on Photographing Spectra of the Stars and Planets, Dr. Henry Draper, 83 ; Mutual Attrac- tion of Spectral Lines, C. S. Peirce, 108; M. Fievez on Spectroscopy, 188 ; Capt. Abney on the Photographic Method of Mapping the Solar Spectrum, 267 ; Fluorescent Spectrum, 267; on the Photographic Spectra of Stars, W. Huggins, F.R.S., 269 ; Reversion of Sodium Lines, C. A. Young, 274 ; the Spectrum of Ordinary Daylight, 426; the ‘‘Indigo” Spectrum, 426; Comparison of Gas, Sun, Day, and the Electric Light, 504; the Spectra of Nebulz, 576 Spider, a Clever, Ll. A. Morgan, 276 “Spiders of Dorset,” with an Appendix containing Short Descriptions of those British Species not yet found in Dorset- shire, by the Rev. O. Pickard, Cambridge, 273 Sponge Fishery, 19 Spottiswoode (Wm., P.R.S.), on some of the Effects Produced by an Induction Coil with a De Meritens Magneto-Electric Machine, 433; J. F. Moulton on the Sensitive State of the Vacuum Lischarge, 626 Spouting Well, the Kane Geyser, some Particulars of the, 115 Spurrell (I. C.), Vertical Shafts in the Kent Chalk, 66 Stags’ Horns, 155, 203, 251, 325, 349 5372, 417 Stalactite Cavern, Discovery of, in the Adams Valley, Moravia, 8 Stavford’s New Library Map of the World, 22 Stanley’s Expedition, 360, 455 Stars: Crossley, Gledhill, and Wilson’s ‘“‘ Handbook of Double Stars,” 53; Double Star Observations at Chicago, S. W. Burnham, 53; on Photographing the Spectra of the Stars and Planets, Dr. Henry Draper, 83; Parallax of a Small Star, 117; Orbits of Binary, 141; Close Binary 85 Pegasi, 240; on the Photographic Spectra of, W. Huggins, F.R.S., 269 ; Suspected Variable, 502; Micrometrical Measurements of ‘Double Stars made at Cincinnati 1878 and 1879, 512 Statesmanship, the Science of, 295 Statistical Society, 412, 507; Presentation of the Howard Medal, 90 Steam Injector, Irwin's, 474 Steel and Electricity, 117 Steel and Iron Wires, Effects Produced by the Immersion of in Acidulated Water, Prof. D. E. Hughes, 602 Stereoscopic Experiments, 117 Stevenson (Thomas), Description of an Instrument for Exploring Dark Cavities which are inaccessible to Direct Light, 14; _ New Modes of showing Different Characteristics over small Arcs in Azimuth from the same Lighthouse Apparatus, 156 Stewart (Prof. Balfour, F.R.S.), some Points in the History of Spectrum Analysis, 35; Obituary Notice of J. Allan Broun, 112; on the Long Period Inequality in Rainfall, 541 Stewart (James, C.E.), Explorations in Africa, 527 Stimuli in Sensitive Nerves, 454 Stokoe (Paul Henry), Stags’ Horns, 203; the Zophivmys, 226 Stone (O. C.), a Few Months in New Guinea, 64 Stone (Ormond), Micrometrical Measurements of Double Stars made at Cincinnatti 1878 and 1879, 512 Stone in the Nest of the Swallow, Dr. P. P. C. Hoek, 494; J. E. Harting, 590 = Stone Arrow Heads, 613 Storms of December 28, 1879, 503; Storm-Centres in the United States, 503 Strange Arithmetic, 468 Stranorlar, Slight Shock of Earthquake at, 188 Strassburg Observatory, a Standard Clock at the, 20; Meteor at, 48 Stratified Rocks, the Structure and Origin of, H. C. Sorby, F.R.S., 431 Subject-Index, Astronomical, J. L, E, Dreyer, 154; F. D. Brown, 10; Consul Layard, 525 Sudan and Sahara, Dr. Gustav Nachtigal, 198 Sugar, Grape, the Manufacture of, 20 Suguira (S.), Prehistoric Man in Japan, 371 Suicide in Scorpions, Dr. R. F. Hutchinson, 226; F. Gillman, 275, 302 5 Sulphuric Acid, Manu ‘acture of, in Japan, 20 ° ee gare Fi ‘ature, May 27, 1880] INDEX xvii Sumatra, Exploration of, 332 Sunlight on Plants, Effects of Uninterrupted, 311 Sunshine, Chas, Coppock, 445 Sunshine Cycles, Prof. Piazzi Smyth, 248 ; E. Douglas Archi- bald, 393 Sunshine, Recording, David Winstanley, 214 Sun-Spots: in Earnest, Prof. A. Winnecke, 10; M. Janssen’s Observations on, 162; and the Rainfall of Paris, C. Mel- drum, F.R.S., 166; Henry Bedford on, 276; Edward Parfitt on, 324; H. F. Blanford on the Barometric See-Saw between Russia and India in the Sun-Spot Cycle, 477 Surrey, Notes on the Flora of, A. Bennett, 116 Swallow, the Stone in the Nest of the, Dr. P. P. C. Hoek, 494; H. E. Harting, 590 Swan (Joseph W.), Edison’s New Lamp, 202 Swedish North-East Passage Expedition, 37, 57, 326 Sweden, Prof, Nordenskjéld on the History of Natural Science in, 518, 539, 563 Swift (Prof. Lewis), the Intra-Mercurial Planet Question, 299 Switzerland, Earthquakes in, 163, 239; the Study of Earth- quakes in, 351 Sydney, International Meteorological Conference at, 382 Sylviculture, Results of a Recent Experiment in, M. Gurnaud on, 330 5 is Anthropological Discovery at, by Herr Wilckens 21 Tabulate Corals, Prof. Nicholson’s Work on, 490 Tait (Prof. P. G.) and the Thermal Conductivity of Metals, 189 ; Clerk Maxwell's Scientific Work, 317 Tasmania, Forests of, Rev. J. E. Tenison- Woods, 573 Tastes and Sights, Recall of, Dr. A. Ernst, 611 Tay Railway Bridge, Destruction of, 214; Hon. Ralph Aber- cromby, 443, 502; Rev. W. Clement Ley, 468 Taylor (Alexander), the Climate of England, 131 Tchikoleff (M.), ‘‘ The Electric Light and its Applications to Military Purposes,” 330 Tea, Curious Varieties of, 502 Technical Eduction, Prof. Huxley on, 139 Technical University Question, 221 Technological Chemistry, ‘‘Grundriss der chemischen Techno- logie,” Dr, Jul. Post, 55 Tehuantepec, Isthmus of, Commencement of the Railway across, 103 ‘© Telegraph,” the Word, Dr. Warren De la Rue, F.R.S., 226; Richard B, Prosser, 251 Telegraph Cables, Guide for the Electric Testing of, Capt. V. Hoskizr, 587 Telegraphic Arrangement for Ships, a New, 20 Telegraphy, Duplex System of, in Japan, 358 Tele-Microphone, a New, 575 Telephone: Edison’s Latest Transmitter, 22; Amenities be- tween Telephone Companies, 47; Telephone Litigation in the United States, 90; the Use of, in Edinburgh, 115 ; Re- searches on Telephone Vibrations, Prof. Sylvanus P. Thomp- son, 120; Successful Use of Edison’s, 189; Experiments in the Use of, 264; and the Post Office, W. H. Preece, 349 ; and the Resistance of Liquids, 309; Prof. W. F. Barrett on the Loud-Speaking, 483 ; Telephonic Exchange in the United States, 495 Telephote or Diaphote, 576 Temesvar Earthquake, Details of, 163 Temperature of the Air at Various Levels, L. Hajnis, 176 Temperature, the Influence of, on Tuning-Forks, Herr Kayser on, 243 Temperature and Atmosphere, Charts of, 265 Temperature of Space and its Bearing on ‘Terrestrial Physics, James Croll, 521 Temperature of the Soil during Winter, 523 Temps, Suggestion of the Meteorological Editor of, 162 Tenez, Earthquake at, 547 Tenison-Wocds (Rev. J. E.), Forests of Tasmania, 573 Tennant (fohn), Colour-Blindness, 132 Téosinté, Consul Calvert on, 116 Terrestrial Physics, the Temperature of Space and its Bearing on, James Croll, 521 Tertiary Quartzites of the Ardennes, 164 Tertiaries, English, Classifcation of the, 448 Tes-in and Italy, the Pelagic Fauna of the Lakes of, 525 XViil Texas, the ‘‘ Parasol” Ants of, How they Cut and Carry Leaves, Origin of Castes by Evolution, G. T. Bettany, 17 Thermo-Electric Behaviour of Aqueous Solutions with Mer- curial Electrodes, G. Gore, F.R.S., 169 Thessalian Olympus, Herr M. Neumayr on, 192 Thiers (M.), the Zvoge on, 71 Thomas (Cyrus), ‘‘ Noxious and Beneficial Insects of the State of Illinois,” 367 Thompson (Prof. Silvanus P.), his Monograph on Binaural Audition, 21; on Rood’s ‘‘ Modern Chromatics, with Appli- cations to Art and Industry,” 78; Planteé’s Researches in Electricity, 150 ; Distinguishing Lights for Lighthouses, 154 ; Researches on Telephone Vibrations, 180; Artisan Reports on the Paris Exhibition of 1878, 397 ; Spectral Shadow on Mist, 216 Thompson (W.), Intellect in Brutes, 324 Thomson (David), Death of, 329 Thomson (J. S.), Meteor, 303 Thomson (Sir Wm., F.R.S.), Distinguishing Lights for Light- houses, 109 Thomson (Sir Wyville, F.R.S.), Elasmopoda (Hjalmar Théel), a New Order of Holothuridea, 470 Thought, Unconscious, Hyde Clarke, 202 Thunderer Gun Experiments, 139, 162, 286; the Explosion, 329, 357, 437 oe Thunderstorm in Dharwar, 616 Thury (Prof.) on Astronomical Observations, 474 Tidal Friction, Erratum in Paper on, G. H. Darwin, F.R.S., 276 Tidal Phenomenon in Lake Constance, Samuel J. Capper, 397 ; Dr. F. A. Forel, 443 Tidal Problem, 186 Tides, on the Secular Changes in the Elements of«the Orbit of a Satellite Revolving about a Planet Distorted by, G. H. Darwin, F.R.S., 235 Tidy (Prof.), on River Water, 507 Times, the, on British Birds, 260 Timor, Exploration of, D, A. 8. Meyer, 108 ‘Tin Trade, a History of,” P. W. Flower, 345 Titanomorphite, 425 Tjagin’s (Lieut.) Sojourn in Novaya Zemlya, 165 Tobacco, Spurious, 525 Todd (D. P.), Solar Parallax from the Velocity of Light, 331 Torrey Botanical Club, 89 Tomlinson (S.), Principles of Agriculture, 466 Topler (Prof.), Electric Machine, 21 “‘Topophone,” Prof, Alfred M. Mayer's, 385 Tosa, Coral Dredged up near, 285 “© Poughened ” Glass and Leyden Jars, 526 “ Tour du Monde,” M. E. Levasseur’s, Instructive Geographical Game, 237 Trans-Atlantic Longitudes, C. P. Patterson on, 467 Transit of Venus Expedition, Natural History of, 259 Transverse Vibrations of Light, on a Mode of Explaining the, S. Tolver Preston, 256 ; Lewis Wright, 370 Transverse Propagation of Light, W. M. Hicks, 301; S. Tolver Preston, 369 Traquair (Dr, R. H.), the Platysomid Fishes, 55; Fossil Fishes of Scotland, 428 Trees, Relative Growth of the Trunks of, 265 Trevelyan ‘ Rocker,” Prof. Barrett on the, 426, 507 Triangulation, a Feat in, 157 Triassic Footprints, Searles V. Wood, Jun., 347 Trieste Zoological Station, Prof. Claus’s Report on the Work done at the, 163 Trimen (Dr. Henry), John Miers, 11 “Triple Objectives with Complete Colour Correction,” Prof. C. S. Hastings on, 243 Tropics, Rainfall inthe, Dr. A. Woeikof, 347 Tsuruga and Shiwotsu, New Railway between, 1g0 Tucker (R.), C. F. Gauss, 467 Tumuli in Austria, 457 Tuning Fork, a Self-Kesonant, 72; the Influence of Tempera- ture on, Herr Kayser on, 243 Turin: Royal Academy of Sciences, the Bressa Prize awarded to Chas. Darwin, 306 Turkistan, Year-Book for, 22 Turkomans, by A. H. Keane, 110 Turnbull (James), Intel'ect in Rrutes, 12 Two Ocean Pass, Dr. F. V. Hayden on, 287 INDEX [Nature, May 27, 1880 a —_—_—_<$<$<$<___—<$<$— ca Tylor (Dr. E. B., F.R.S.), Recent Progress in Anthropology, 380; on the Origin of the Plough, a pest Typhoons, the Chinese, 141; E. Knipping’s Account of, 142 Uganda and its People, 619 Unconscious Cerebration, Hyde Clarke, 81, 202 United States, the Missouri Weather Service, 142; Magnetic Survey of Missouri, 142; National Academy, Wm C. Wyckoff, 143; Geological Survey of, 197, 332; Prof. Arch. Geikie, F.R.S., 612; Survey Maps, 165 ; Weather Maps of, 304, 381, 565 ; Telephone Exchange in the, 495 Universities, the Functions of, and Prof. Max Miiller, 13 University and Educational Intelligence, 26, 50, 73, 98, 146, 217, 289, 314, 338, 361, 386, 410, 432, 505, 625 Ural Crayfish, M. Malakhoff on the, 454 Uralium, M. A. Guyard’s Discovery of the New Metal, 187 ‘* Uranometria Argentina,” 91, 240 ? Urari, the |)eadly Arrow Poison of the Macusis, Dr. R. Schom- burgk, 560 ‘ Vacuum Discharge, on the Sensitive State of, W. Spottiswoode, P.R.S., and J. F. Moulton, 626 : Vaporisation, a Method of Calculating the Expansion of a Substance on, W. J. Sollas, 492 Varenne (M. Louis), on the Passivity of Iron, 117 Variable Stars, Suspected, 502 Vegetation under Electric Light, 438, 456 Velocity of Light, Experimental Determination of, Albert A. Michelson, 120 Ventoux, Mont, Proposed Meteorological Observatory on, 18 Meier ve. oe der k.k. geologischen Reichsanstalt zu Wien, 51, 22 ’ Verhandlungen des naturhistorischen Vereins der preussischen Rheinlande und Westfalens, 362 Vertical Shafts in the Chalk in Kent, 13 Vesbium, 458; Dr. T. H. Norton, 420 Vesuvius, the State of, 70, 524; Eruption of, 215; the History of, during the Year 1879, G. F. Rodwell, 351; the Railway up, 500, 524 “Vevey” Cigars, 525 Vibration of Sounaing Bodies, the Discovery of the, 21 Vibrations of the Telephone, Researches on, Prof. Silvanus P. Thompson, 180 Vibrations of Light, on a Mode of Explaining the Transverse, S. Tolver Preston, 256 ; Lewis Wright, 370 Vibratory Motion in Fluids, Ridout on, 506 Victoria, Meteorology in, 48 Victoria (Philosophical) Institute, 364, 531, 580 Vienna, Imperial Academy of Sciences, 99, 244, 292, 364, 460 «Village Life,” 224 Vincent ( ae C.), Manufacture of Methyl Chloride from Beet- root, 35 Vines (Sydney H.), the Functions of Chlorophyll, 85 Viscous Materials, Flow of, a Model Glacier, J. T. Bottomley, 159; R. S. Newall, F.R.S., 202 Vistula, The Lower, M. Zahorowski’s Discovery of Sepulchral Vessels on the Banks of, 262 Visualised Numerals, Francis Galton, F.R.S., 252, 323, 494 Vocal Physiology and Hygiene, by Gordon Holmes, Dr, William Pole on, 271 Vogel (Dr. H. W.), the New Hydrogen Lines observed by the Star Lines, and the Dissociation of Calcium, 410 Voice in Fish, S. E. Peal, 55 Volcanoes: Volcanic Eruption in Dominica, H. A, Alford Nicholls, 372; Is Mount Unzen a Volcano? H. B. Guppy, 153; Appearance of a Small Crater near Paterno, 382; Vesu- Me 70, 215, 351, 500, 524; Eruption of Mount Argacus, 20 be aati (Snellen van), Death of, 523; Obituary Notice of, 5 Vibox minor, Oospores of, 93 Vortex-Atom Theory, a Psychulogical Aspect of the, S. Tolver Preston, 323 Walferdin (M.), Death of, 329 Walker (J. J.), on a Hexemeter, 57 Wallace’s ‘‘ Australasia,” A. Hart Everett, 535; A. R. Wal- lace, 562 ¢, May 27, 1880] INDEX xix = : Waltershausen (Sartorius von), MSS. Descriptive of Etna, 287 -Wappaeus (Prof.), of Gottingen, Death of, 217 ‘Ward (Rey. James Clifton), Obituary Notice of, 614 Ward (Col.), Meteorology of the High Regions of Switzerland, 329 Wasps, Carnivorous, Sir David Wedderburn, Bart., 417; R. S. Newall, F.R.S., 494; Lewis Bod, 538 ; Worthington G. Smith, 563 - Water, the Specific Heat of, 189, 309 ; Water Figures, and Car- bon, W. M. Flinders Petrie, 225; Directions for the Arti- ficial Freezing of, 243 Waterspouts off Cape Spada, Herr Miksche’s Account of, 265 Watt (Edmund), Monkeys in the West Indies, 131 Watter’s Guide to the Tablets in a Temple of Confucius, 424 Wealden Dinosaur, the New, J. Whitaker Hulke, F.R.S., 135 Weather, a Possible Consequence of our Present, W. Mattieu Williams, 130 Weather Maps of the United States, 304, 381, 565 Weaver Birds and Fire-Flies, E. L. Layard, 201 Webb (T. W.), Planets of the Seasons—Saturn, 87 ; Mars, 212; Discovery of a Gaseous Nebula, 111 Webb’s Planetary Nebula (DM. + 41°, 4004), Light of, Prof. Edward C. Pickering, 346 Wedderburn (Sir David, Bart.), Carnivorous Wasps, 417 West Indies, Monkeys in, Edmund Watt, 131; P. L. Sclater, F.R.S., 153 ; John Imray, 371 West Kent Natural History Society, 525 Wetterhan (Prof. D.), Ice-Crystals and Filaments, 396 rei (Capt.), Proposed New Polar Expedition, 505 Whales in the Mediterranean, 597 Wharton (Capt.), ‘‘ False Dawn,” 33 Whipple (G. M.), Result of an Inquiry into the Periodicity of Rainfall, 338 _ Whitaker’s Almanac, the Geography of, 190 White (Dr. F. Buchanan), Stags’ Horns, 251 Whymper (E.), Ascent of Mount Chimborazo, 620 Wiedemann’s (Herr E.) Experiments on the Phosphorescent Light produced by Electric Discharges, 385 Wiesbaden, International Exhibition of Plants at, 330 —” (Herr), his Anthropological Discovery at Sypniewo, 21 _ Wilcox (T. E.), Intellect in Brutes, 372 Wild (Dr. J. J.), Does Sargassum Vegetate in the Open Sea ? fe) 7 Williams (W. Mattieu), a Possible Consequence of our Present Weather, 130; Artificial Diamonds, 224 Willughby Society’s Publications, 358 Wilson (Dr. Andrew), ‘‘ Diagrams of Zoology,” 153 Winnecke (Prof. A.), Sun-Spots in Earnest, 10 - Winnecke’s Comet, 264 Wind-Charts, M. L. Brault’s, 265 Windsor Albert Institute, 330 Winstanley (David), Recording Sunshine, 214 Wittrock (Dr. B. V.) Appointed Keeper of the Botanical Department of the Swedish Museum, 89 Woeikof (Dr. A.), ‘‘ Why the Air at the Equator is not Hotter in January than in July,” Freezing of the Neva, 249; Rainfall in the Tropics, 347 Wood, Fire Produced by the Friction of, 423 Wood (Major Herbert), Death of, 22 Wood (Searles V.), Triassic Footprints, 347 Woods (Rev. J. E, Tenison), Forests of Tasmania, 573 Woods (Thomas), a Claim for Precedence, 493 Woollen Manufactory in China, 617 Woolwich, Electric Light at, 188 Wragge (Clement L.), Ozone, 537 Wright (Dr. E. Perceval), ‘* Animal Life,” 232 Wright (Lewis), Chinese Geese, 302; the Transverse Vibrations. of Light, 370 Writing, the History of, Prof. A. H. Sayce, 378, 404 Wroblewski (Dr. S.), on the Nature of the Absorption of Gases, 190 Wiirzburg, University of, 300th Anniversary of its Foundation, 215; Monument to Freiherr von Siebold at, 285 Wyckoff (Wm. C.), U.S. National Academy, 143 Yale College and American Paleontology, ror Yarkand Mission, the Second, 389 ‘* Year Book of Facts,” 263. Yeast, Destruction of Insect Pests by Means of, H. A. Hagen, 611 Yedo, Severe Earthquake in, 423 Yokohama, Earthquake at, 617 ‘*Vorkshire Naturalists’ Union,” Annual Meeting of, 307 Young (Prof. C. A.), Re-reversal of Sodium Lines, 274 Zaborowski’s (M.), Discovery of Sepulchral Vessels on the Banks of the Lower Vistula, 262 Zeitschrift fiir das chemische Grossgewerbe, 79 Zeitschrift fiir wissenschaftliche Geographie, 310 Zeitschrift fiir wissenschaftliche Zoologie, 168, 338, 433 Zinin (Prof. Nicholas), Death of, 473 ; Obituary Notice of, 572 Zoological Gardens, Additions to, 20, 48, 71, 91, 116, 141, 164, 216, 239, 264, 286, 307, 331, 358, 383, 408, 424, 452, 475, 502, 525, 549- 475, 597, 618 oes Society, 99, 172, 194, 291, 315, 339, 363, 434, 506, 57 Zoological Station, Scottish, T. Jeffery Parker, 159; Naples, 524; W. A. Lloyd, 537 Zoological Record for 1877, Edited by E. C. Rye, 392, 467 Zoology, Diagrams of, by Dr. Andrew Wilson, 153 Zoology for Students, Prof. A. S, Packard, 465 Zostera marina, 93 3 ee vat 4 Aa ake eee Beer he ; — Boe. erat “ni 4) i > vee = Sse pat vi one i rea on i ‘ 2 + ‘ ne ae ed } ¥4) PAI Te 89: 2 u a s se) ~ ee he aoe i te oe 4 f<2 § ‘i! i _ ™* i P A WEEKLY ILLUSTRATED JOURNAL OF SCIENCE “* To the solid ground Of Nature trusts the mind which builds for aye.” —WoRDSWORTH THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 6, 1879 ON CERTAIN ERRORS RESPECTING THE STRUCTURE OF THE HEART ATTRIBUTED TO ARISTOTLE by all the commentaries upon the “ Historia Animalium ” which I have met with, Aristotle’s express and re- peated statement, that the heart of man and the largest animals contains only three cavities, is noted as a remark- able error. Even Cuvier, who had a great advantage over most of the commentators in his familiarity with the subject of Aristotle's description, and whose habitual caution and moderation seem to desert him when the opportunity of panegyrising the philosopher presents itself, is betrayed into something like a sneer on this topic. “Du reste il n’attribue 4 cet organe que trois cavités, erreur qui prouve au moins qu'il en avait regardé la structure.” ? To which remark, what follows will, I think, justify the reply, that it “prouve au moins” that Cuvier had not given ordinary attention, to say nothing of the careful study which they deserve, to sundry passages in the first and the third books of the “ Historia’? which I proceed to lay before the reader. For convenience of reference these passages are marked a, b, 6, &c.? Booki. 17.—(a) “ The heart has three cavities, it lies above the lung on the division of the windpipe, and has a fatty and thick membrane where it is united with the great vein and the aorta. It lies upon the aorta, with its point down the chest, in all animals that have a chest. In all, alike in those that have a chest and in those that have none, the foremost part of it is the apex. This is often overlooked through the turning upside down of the dissection. The rounded end of the heart is uppermost, the pointed end of it is largely fleshy and thick, and in its cavities there are tendons. In other animals which have a chest the heart lies in the middle of the chest ; in men, more to the left side, between the nipples, * “* Histoire des Sciences Naturelles,” i. p. r52. 2 The text I have followed is that given by Aubert and Wimmer, “ Aris- toteles Thierkunde ; kritsich berichtigter Text mit deutschen Uebersetzung ;”” but I have tried here and there to bring the English version rather closer to the original than the German translation, excellent as it is, seems to me to be. VoL. Xx1.—No, 523 a little inclined to the left nipple in the upper part of the chest. The heart is not large, and its general form is not elongated but rounded, except that the apex is pro- duced into a point. (6) “It has, as already stated, three cavities, the largest of them is on the right, the smallest on the left, the middle-sized one in the middle; they have all, also the two small ones, passages (rerpnyévas) towards the lung, very evidently as respects one of the cavities. In the region of the union [with the great vein and the aorta] the largest cavity is connected with the largest vein (near which is the mesentery); the middle cavity, with the aorta. (c) “ Canals (wépor) from the heart pass to the lung and divide in the same fashion as the windpipe does, closely accompanying those from the windpipe through the whole lung. The canals from the heart are uppermost. (dz) “No canal is common [to the branches of the wind- pipe and those of the vein] (ovdels S'eari kowds mépos) but through those parts of them which are in contact (ryv civayiy) the air passes in and they [the wépor] carry it to the heart. (e) “One of the canals leads to the right cavity, the other to the left. (/) “Of all the viscera, the heart alone contains blood [in itself]. The lung contains blood, not in itself but in the veins, the heart in itself; for in each of the cavities there is blood ; the thinnest is in the middle cavity.” (Book iii. 3).—(g) “Two veins lie in the thorax along- side the spine, on its inner face ; the larger more for- wards, the smaller behind; the larger more to the right, the smaller, which some call aorta (on account of the tendinous part of it seen in dead bodies), to the left. These take their origin from the heart; they pass entire, preserving the nature of veins, through the other viscera that they reach ; while the heart is rather a part of them, and more especially of the anterior and larger one, which is continued into veins above and below, while between these is the heart. (Z) “All hearts contain cavities, but in those of very small animals the largest (cavity) is hardly visible, those of middling size have another, and the biggest all three. (2) “ The point of the heart is directed forwards as was mentioned at first; the largest cavity to the right and upper side of it, the smallest to the left, and the middle sized one between these; both of these are much smaller than the largest. (2) “ They are all connected by passages (cuvrérpyvrat) with the lung, but on account of the smallness of the canals this is obscure except in one. = (2 “The great vein proceeds from the largest cavity which lies upwards and to the right ; next through the hollow middle (8:a rod Koidov rod péwov) it becomes vein again, this cavity being a part of the vein in which the blood stagnates. (m) “The aorta [proceeds from] the middle [cavity], but not in the same way, for it is connected [with the middle cavity] by a much more narrow tube (avpvyya). (z) “The [great] vein extends through the heart, towards the aorta from the heart. (0) “ The great vein is membranous like skin, the aorta narrower than it and very tendinous, and as it extends towards the head and the lower parts it becomes narrow and altogether tendinous. (f) “In the first place, a part of the great vein extends upwards from the heart towards the lung and the attach- ment of the aorta, the vein being large and undivided. It divides into two parts, the one to the lung, the other to the spine and the lowest vertebra of the neck. _ (g) ‘The vein which extends to the lung first divides into two parts for the two halves of it and then extends alongside each tube (cvpryya) and each passage (rpjya), the larger beside the larger and the smaller beside the smaller, so that no part [of the lung] can be found from which a passage (tpjua) and a vein are absent. The terminations are invisible on account of their minuteness, but the whole lung appears full of blood. The canals from the vein lie above the tubes given off from the windpipe.”’ The key to the whole of the foregoing description of the heart lies in the passages (g) and (Z). They prove that Aristotle, like Galen, five hundred years afterwards, and like the great majority of the old Greek anatomists, did not reckon what we call the right auricle as a con- stituent of the heart at all, but as a hollow part or dilatation of the “great vein.” Aristotle is careful to state that his observations were conducted on suffocated animals ; and if any one will lay open the thorax of a dog or a rabbit, which has been killed with chloroform, in such a manner as to avoid wounding any important vessel, he will at once see why Aristotle adopted this view. For, the vena cava inferior (0), the right auricle (2.2) and the vena cava superior and innominate vein (V./.) distended with blood, seem to form one continuous column, to which the heart is attached asa sort of ap- pendage(g). This column is, as Aristotle says, vein above (a) and vein below (4), the upper and the lower divisions being connected did rod Kothov Tod peoou—or by means of the intervening cavity or chamber (A.@.)—which is the right auricle. But when, from the four cavities of the heart recognised by us moderns, one is excluded, there remain three— which is just what Aristotle says. The solution of the difficulty is, in fact, as absurdly simple as that presented by the egg of Columbus ; and any error there may be, is not to be put down to Aristotle, but to that inability to comprehend that the same facts may be accurately de- scribed in different ways, which is the special characteristic of the commentatorial mind. That the three cavities mentioned by Aristotle are just those which remain if the right auricle is omitted, is plain enough from what is said in’(8), (c), (e), (2), and (2). For, in a suffocated animal, the “right cavity” which is directly connected with the great vein and is obviously the right ventricle, being distended with blood, will look much larger than the middle cavity, which, since it gives rise to the aorta, can only be the left ‘ventricle. And this, again, will appear larger than the thin NATURE OE wat A rs. [Nov. 6, 1879 and collapsed left auricle, which must be Aristotle’s left cavity, inasmuch as this cavity is said to be connected by 7épot with the lung. The reason why Aristotle considered the left auricle to be a part of the heart, while he merged the right auricle in the great vein, is, obviously, the small relative size of the venous trunks and their sharper de- marcation from the auricle. Galen, however, perhaps. more consistently, regarded theleft auricle also asa mere part of the “arteria venosa.” The canal which leads. from the right cavity of the heart to the lung is, without doubt, the pulmonary artery. But it may be said that, in this case, Aristotle contradicts himself, inasmuch as in (#) and (g)a vessel which is obviously the pulmonary artery, is described as a branch of the great vein. How- Ley. Fic. 1.—A dog having been killed by chloroform, enough of the right wall of the thorax was removed, without any notable bleeding, to expose the thoracic viscera. A carefully measured outline sketch of the parts 7 situ was then made, and 6n dissection, twenty-four hours afterwards, the necessary anatomical details were added. The woodcut is a faithfully reduced copy of the drawing thus constructed; and it represents the relations of the heart and great vessels as Aristotle saw them in a suffu- cated animal. 3 ec All but the inner lobe of the right lung has been removed ; as well as the right half of the pericardium and the right walls of the right auricle and ventricle. It must be remembered that the thin transparent pericardial membrane appears nothing like so distinct in nature. a.d., Aristotle's ‘great vein”’; ./., right vena innominata and vena cava superior; J, the inferior vena cava; 7.a, the ‘* hollow middle ” part of the great vein or the right auricle; &.v', the prolongation of the cavity of the right ventricle X. towards the pulmonary artery; ¢”, one of the tricuspid valves; Pc, the pericardium ; /.sv, superior intercortal vein > Az, vena azygos; P.A., right pulmonary artery ; By, right bronchus ; L, posterior lobe of the mght lung; @, ceesophagus ; Ae, descending aorta; H, liver, in section, with hepatic vein, vena porte, and gall- bladder, gd, separated by the diaphragm, als> seen in section, from the thoracic cavity. ever, this difficulty also disappears, if we reflect that, in Aristotle’s way of looking at the matter, the line of demar- cation between the great vein and the heart coincides with the right auriculo-ventricular aperture ; and that, inasmuch as the conical prolongation of the right ventricle which leads to the pulmonary artery (Fig. 1, 2.v’), lies close in front of the auricle, its bise may very easily (as the figure shows) be regarded as part of the general open- ing of the great vein into the right ventricle. In fact* — jt is clear that Aristotle, having failed to notice the ves of the heart, did not distinguish the part of the right ventricle from which the pulmonary artery arises (&.v’) from the proper trunk of the artery on the one hand, and from the right auricle (X.a) on the other. Thus the root, as we may call it, of the pulmonary artery and the right auricle, taken together, are spoken ” of as the “ part of the great vein which extends upwards ; and, as the vena azygos (Az) was one branch of this, ‘so the “vein to the lung’’ was another branch of it. — But the latter branch, being given off close to the con- r nection of the great vein with the ventricle, was also counted as one of the two aépo by which the “heart” (that _ is to say the right ventricle, the left ventricle, and the left ~ auricle of our nomenclature) communicates with the lung, The only other difficulty that I observe, is connected with (4). If Aristotle intended: by this to affirm that the middle cavity (left ventricle), like the other two, is directly j connected with the lung by a zépos, he would be in error. _ But he has excluded this interpretation of his words by (e), in which the number and relations of the canals, the existence of which he admits, are distinctly defined. I can only imagine then, that so far as this passage applies to the left ventricle, it merely refers to the indirect commu- nication of that cavity with the vessels of the lungs, through the left auricle. On this evidence I submit that there is no escape from the conclusion that, instead of having committed a gross blunder, Aristotle has given a description of the heart _ which so far as it goes, is remarkably accurate. He is in _ error only in regard to the differences which he imagines to exist between large and small hearts (7). ‘ Cuvier (who has been followed by other commentators) ascribes another error to Aristotle :— “ Aristote suppose que la trachée-artére se prolonge jusqu’au coeur, et semble croire, en conséquence, que l’air y pénétre (/. ¢. p. 152).” Upon what foundation Cuvier rested the first of these _ two assertions, I am ata loss to divine. As a matter of fact, it will appear from the following excerpts that _ Aristotle gives an account of the structure of the lungs which is almost as good as that of the heart, and that it contains nothing about any prolongation of the windpipe to the heart. “Within the neck lie what is called the cesophagus (so named on account of its length and its narrowness) and the windpipe (dprpia). The position of the windpipe in all animals that have one, is in front of the cesophagus. All animals which possess a lung have a windpipe. The windpipe is of a cartilaginous nature and is exsanguine, but is surrounded by many little veins... . “Tt goes downwards towards the middle of the lung and then divides for each of the halves of the lung. In all animals that possess one, the lung is divided into two parts ; but, in those which bring forth their young alive, the separation is not equally well marked, least of all in man. > _ “In oviparous animals, such as birds, and in quad- _ rupeds which are oviparous, the one half of the lung is widely separated from the other ; so that it appears as if they had two lungs. And from being single the windpipe becomes [divided into] two, which extend to each half of _ the lung. It is fastened to the great vein and to what is called the aorta. When the windpipe is blown up the air _ passes into the hollow parts of the lung. In these, are >a Pu ? a” "cartilaginous tubes (Siadrices) whic: unite at an angle; from the tubes passages (rpyjpara) traverse the whole of the lung; they are continually given off, the smaller from the larger.” (Book i., 16.) : That Aristotle speaks of the lung as a single organ divided into two halves and says that the division is least marked in man, is puzzling at first, but becomes intelligible if we reflect upon the close union of the bronchi, the pul- monary vessels and the mediastinal walls of the pleurz in mammals ;'and it is quite true that the lungs are much more obviously distinct from one another in birds. Aubert and Wimmer translate the last paragraph of the passage just cited as follows :— “‘Diese haben aber knorpelige Scheidewande, welche unter spitzen Winkeln zusammentreten, und aus ihnen fiihren Ceffnungen durch die ganze Lunge, indem sie sich in immer kleineren verzweigen.”’ But I cannot think that by Siapdoets and rpyyara, in this passage, Aristotle meant either “partitions” or openings in the ordinary sense of the latter word. For, in Book iii., Cap. 3,in describing the distribution of the “vein which goes to the lung” (the pulmonary artery), he says that it “Extends alongside each tube (ovpuyya) and each passage (rpyya), the larger beside the larger, and the smaller beside the smaller; so that no part [of the lung] can be found from which a passage (rpjya) and a vein are absent.” Moreover, in Book i., 17, he says— “Canals (épor) from the heart pass to the lung and divide in the same fashion as the windpipe does, closely accompanying those from the windpipe through the whole lung.” And again in Book i., 17.— “It (the lung) is entirely spongy, and alongside of each tube (avpvyya) run canals (mépor) from the great vein.” On comparing the last three statements with the facts of the case, it is plain that by ovpryyes, or tubes, Aristotle means the bronchi and so many of their larger divisions as obviously contain cartilages; and that by diadpvoes xovdpades he denotes the same things; and, if this be so, then the rpjuara must be the smaller bronchial canals, in which the cartilages disappear. This view of the structure of the lung is perfectly correct so far as it extends; and, bearing it in mind, we shall be in a position to understand what Aris- totle thought about the passage of air from the lungs into the heart. In every part of the lung, he says, in effect, there is an air tube which is derived from the trachea, and other tubes which are derived from the wépou which lead from the lung to the heart, szpré (c), Their applied walls constitute the thin ‘‘synapses”’ (r7jv avvayyu) through which the air passes out of the air tubes into the mépot, or blood vessels, by transudation or diffusion; for there is no community between the cavities of the air tubes and cavities of the canals ; that is to say, no opening from one into the other, swpra (d). On the words “xowds mépos’? Aubert and Wimmer remark (Zc. p. 239), ‘Da A. die Ansicht hat die Lungen- luft wiirde dem Herzen zugefiihrt, so postulirt er statt vieler kleiner Verbindungen einen grossen Verbindungs- gang zwischen Lunge und Herz.” But does Aristotle make this assumption? The only evidence so far as 1 know in favour of the affirmative answer to this question is the following passage :— ‘sngs are sometimes 1 In modern w rks cn Veterinary Anatomy th> described as two Iobes cf a single organ. 4 “Suvnprera S€ kat 7 xapdia TH aprnpia mipeha@deor Kat yov- Spodeot kat ivodeor Seopois* 7 Sé cummprerat, Koiddv eorw. vowperns dé THs aprnpias év éevios pév od Karddydov motel, ev € Trois peifoor tov (dav Siro Gre cioepyerat TO mvEdua cis ai’rny” (i. cap. 16). “The heart and the windpipe are connected by fatty and cartilaginous and fibrous bands ; where they are connected it is hollow. Blowing into the windpipe does not show clearly in some animals, but in the larger animals it is clear that the air goes into it.” Aubert and Wimmer give a somewhat different render- ing of this passage :— “ Auch das Herz hangt mit der Luftréhre durch fett- reiche, knorpelige und faserige Bander zusammen; und da, wo sie zusammenhingen, ist eine Héhlung. Beim Autblasen der Lunge wird es bei manchen Thieren nicht wahrnehmbar, bei den grésseren aber ist es offenbar, dass die Luft in das Herz gelangt.’’ The sense here turns upon the signification which is to be ascribed to eis airjy. But if these words refer to the heart, then Aristotle has distinctly pointed out the road which the air, in his opinion, takes, namely, through the “synapses”; and there is no reason that I can discover to believe that he “postulated” any other and more direct communication, With respect to the meaning of koiAov éorw, Aubert and Wimmer observe :— “Dies scheint wohl die kurze Lungenvene zu sein. Schneider bezieht dies auf die Vorkammern, allein diese werden unten als Héhlen des Herzens beschrieben.”’ I am disposed to think, on the contrary, that the words refer simply to the cavity of the pericardium, For a part of this cavity (szmus transversus pericardit) lies between the aorta, on the one hand, and the pulmonary vessels with the bifurcation of the trachea, on the other hand, and is much more conspicuous in some animals than in man. It is strictly correct, therefore, in Aristotle’s words, to say that where the heart and the windpipe are connected “it is hollow.” If he had meant to speak of one of the pulmonary veins, or of any of the cavities of the heart, he would have used the terms zépor or xovAlas which he always employs for these parts. According to Aristotle, then, the air taken into the lungs passes from the final ramifications of the bronchial tubes into the corresponding branches of the pulmonary blood vessels, not through openings, but by transudation, or, as we should nowadays say, diffusion, through the thin partitions formed by the applied coats of the two sets of canals. But the “pneuma” which thus reached the interior of the blood vessels was not, in Aristotle’s opinion, exactly the same thing as the air. It was “‘djp odds péav kat aOpcos” (“De Mundo,’ iv., 9)—subtilized and condensed air; and it is hard to make out whether Aristotle considered it to possess the physical properties of a gas or those of a liquid. As he affirms that all the cavities of the heart contain blood (/), it is clear that he did not hold the erroneous view propounded in the next generation by Erasistratus. On the other hand, the fact that he supposes that the spermatic arteries do not contain blood but only an aiparadys typév (‘ Hist. Animalium,” iii., 1), Shows that his notions respecting the contents of the arteries were vague. Nor does he seem to have known that the pulse is characteristic only of the arteries ; and as he thought that the arteries end in solid fibrous bands, he naturally could not have entertained the faintest NATURE [Woo 6, 1879 conception of the true motion of the blood. But without — attempting to read into Aristotle modern conceptions | which never entered his mind, it is only just to observeg that his view of what becomes of the air taken into the | lungs is by no means worthy of contempt as a gross error, On the contrary, here, as in the case of his anatomy, what Aristotle asserts is true as far as it goes, Something does actually pass from the air contained in | the lungs through the coats of the vessels into the blood, — and thence to the heart; to wit, oxygen. And I think that it speaks very well for ancient Greek science that the investigator of so difficult a physiological problem as that of respiration, should have arrived at a conclusion, the statement of which, after the lapse of more than two thousand years, can be accepted as a thoroughly estab- lished scientific truth, I trust that the case in favour of removing the statements about the heart, from the list of the “‘errors of Aristotle” is now clear; and that the evidence proves, on the contrary, that they justify us in forming a very favourable estimate of the oldest anatomical investigations among the Greeks of which any sufficient record remains. ] But is Aristotle to be credited with the merit of having ascertained so much of the truth? This question will not appear superfluous to those who are acquainted with the extraordinary history of Aristotle’s works, or who adopt the conclusion of Aubert and Wimmer, that, of the ten books of the “ Historia Animalium’’ which have come down to us, three are largely or entirely spurious and that the others contain many interpolations by later writers. It so happens, however, that, apart from other reasons, there are satisfactory internal grounds for ascribing the account of the heart to a writer of the time at which Aristotle lived. For, within thirty years of his death, the anatomists of the Alexandrian school had thoroughly investigated the structure and the functions of the valves of the heart. During this time, the manuscripts of Aristotle were in the possession of Theophrastus ; and no interpolator of later date would have shown that he was ignorant of the nature and significance of these important structures, by the brief and obscure allusion—*in its cavities there are tendons (a@).” On the other hand, Polybus, whose account of the vascular system is quoted in the “ Historia Animalium’’ was an elder contemporary of Aristotle. Hence, if any part of the work faithfully represents that which Aristotle taught, we may safely conclude that the description of the heart does so. Having granted this much, however, it is another question, whether Aristotle is to be regarded as the first discoverer of the facts which he has so well stated, or whether he, like other men, was the intellectual child of his time and simply carried on a step or two the work which had been commenced by others. On the subject of Aristotle’s significance as an original worker in biology extraordinarily divergent views have been put forward. If we are to adopt Cuvier’s estimate, Aristotle was simply a miracle :— “« Avant Aristote la philosophie, entiérement spéculative, se perdait dans les abstractions dépourvues de fondement ; la science n’existait pas. Il semble qu'elle soit sortie toute faite du cerveau d’Aristote comme Minerve, toute armée, du cerveau de Jupiter. Seul, en effet, sans anté- cédents, sans rien emprunter aux siécles qui l’avaient pré- : | . | . Saf 4 - 4 ital A a é, puisqu’ils n’avaient rien produit de solide, le disciple Platon découvrit et démontra plus de vérités, executa plus de travaux scientifiques en un vie de soixante-deux ans, qu’aprés lui vingt siécles n’en ont pu faire,”! &c., &c. “ Aristote est le premier qui ait introduit la méthode de ‘induction, de la comparaison des observations pour en faire sortir des idées générales, et celle de l’expérience pour multiplier les faits dont ces idées générales peuvent Stre déduites.”—ii. p. 515. _ The late Mr. G. H. Lewes,? on the contrary, tells us on a superficial examination, therefore, he [Aristotle] will seem to have given tolerable descriptions ; especially if approached with that disposition to discover marvels which unconsciously determines us in our study of eminent writers. But a more unbiased and impartial criticism will disclose that he has given no single anatomical description of the least value. All that he knew may have been known and probably was known, without dissection. _.... Ido not assert that he never opened an animal ; on the contrary, it seems highly probable that he had opened many ...... He never followed the course of a vessel or a nerve; never laid bare the origin and insertion of a muscle ; never discriminated the component parts of organs; never made clear to himself the connection of organs into systems.’’—(pp. 156-7.) In the face of the description of the heart and lungs, just quoted, I think we may venture to say that no one who has acquired even an elementary practical acquaint- “ance with anatomy, and knows of his own knowledge _ that which Aristotle describes, will agree with the opinion expressed by Mr. Lewes; and those who turn to the accounts of the structure of the rock lobster and that of the lobster, or to that of the Cephalopods and other ‘Mollusks, in the fourth book of the ‘‘ Historia Animalium” ‘will probably feel inclined to object to it still more _ strongly. On the other hand, Cuvier’s exaggerated panegyric will as little bear the test of cool discussion. In Greece, the _ century before Aristotle’s birth was a period of great intel- lectual activity, in the field of physical science no less than elsewhere. The method of induction has never been used _ to better effect than by Hippocrates ; and the labours of such men as Alkmeon, Demokritus, and Polybus among Aristotle’s predecessors, Diokles, and Praxagoras, among his contemporaries, laid a solid foundation for the scien- tific study of anatomy and development, independently of his labours. Aristotle himself informs us that the dis- mpection of animals was commonly practised ; that the aorta had been distinguished from the great vein; and that the connection of both with the heart had been observed by k his predecessors. What they thought about the structure _ of the heart itself, or that of the lungs, he does not tell us, and we have no means of knowing. So far from arro- _ gantly suggesting that he owed nothing to his prede- _ cessors, Aristotle is careful to refer to their observations : and to explain why, in his judgment, they fell into the _ ‘errors which he corrects. _ Aristotle’s knowledge, in fact, appears to have stood in the same relation to that of such men as Polybus and Diogenes of Apollonia, as that of Herophilus and Eras- istratus did to his own, so far as the heart is concerned. He carried science a step beyond the point at which he found it ; a meritorious, but not a miraculous, achieve- ment. What he did required the possession of very good powers of observation ; if they had been powers of the highest class he could hardly have left such con- * “Histoire des Sciences Naturelles.’’—t. i. p. 130. ? “ Aristotle, a Chapter from the History of Science.” spicuous objects as the valves of the heart to be discovered by his successors. And this leads me to make a final remark upon a singular feature of the “ Historia Animalium.” As a whole, it isa most notable production, full of accurate information and of extremely acute generalisations of the observations accumulated by naturalists up to that time. And yet, every here and there, one stumbles upon assertions respecting matters which lie within the scope of the commonest inspection, which are not so much to be called errors as stupidities. What is to be made of the statement that the sutures of women’s skulls are different from those of men; that men and sundry male animals have more teeth than their respective females ; that the back of the skull is empty, and so on? Itis simply incredible to me that the Aristotle who wrote the account of the heart, also committed himself to absurdities which can be excused by no theoretical prepossession and which are contradicted by the plainest observation. What, after all, were the original manuscripts of the “ Historia Animalium”? If they were notes of Aristotle’s lectures taken by some of his students, any lecturer who has chanced to look through such notes, would find the interspersion of a foundation of general and sometimes minute accuracy, with patches of transcendent blundering, perfectly intelligible. Some competent Greek scholar may perhaps think it worth while to tell us what may be said for or against the hypothesis thus hinted. One obvious difficulty in the way of adopting it is the fact that, in other works, Aristotle refers to the ‘“‘ Historia Animalium” as if it had already been made public by himself. T. H. HUXLEY ON THE NECESSITY FOR A NEW DEPARTURE IN SPECTRUM ANALYSIS £* is now about a year since I gave an account of the results to which the final discussion of a complete set of photographs of the spectra of the metallic ele- ments compared with the spectrum of the sun had led me. The comparison was limited necessarily to the blue and violet portions of the spectrum, as photography was employed, and the methods since worked out by Capt. Abney for photographing the other regions were not then available. Of set purpose I limited it still more, as I wished to find the dernier mot in the present state of science regarding the coincidence of metallic with Fraun- hofer’s lines ; and for this it was imperative to work on a large scale over a small region rather than on a small scale over a large one. In point of fact, the work was limited to about the zooth part of the spectrum, and this small part was mapped ona large scale. A complete map of the spectrum on the scale adopted would be about half a furlong long. The work took time ; including interruptions of one kind and another, some four years were expended on it. I have elsewhere discussed at some length the conclu- sion which stared us in the face when all the work was brought to focus, but it is important that I should here dwell upon it for a moment, especially as it is now pos- sible, perhaps, to state it with more terseness and clear- ness than one could at first, when the new conception thus forced upon us and its consequences were less familiar to one’s mind, 6 | NATURE [Wov. 6, 1879 Simply, it amounted to this. The new work had made us acquainted with the fact that there were coincidences in the lines of metallic spectra of two perfectly distinct kinds. The lines of one kind we could explain, on the hypo- thesis that the elements are truly elementary, by suppos- ing that in the case, let us say, of coincident lines in the. spectrum of iron and cobalt, the common line was due to an impurity either of iron in the cobalt ‘or of cobalt in the iron. Most spectroscopic workers were of the true faith in this matter; they accepted the dicta of the che- mist, and not only was the work which had shown how the phenomena observed might de thus explained received with favour, but no one, so far as I know, inquired whether there was any other “might be” in the matter. It is more than probable, however, that the future will have much to say on this very point; but with this set of coincidences I am not dealing in this paper. So much for the one set of coincidences. * The other set was as different as possible. In this category there was, on the impurity hypothesis, no possible explanation forthcoming without changing ground. In fact, the separation of the coincidences into two classes was brought about by this very circumstance, since all the coincidences which, in accordance with a general law established for a constant temperature some years before, could be attributed to impurity had, as a matter of fact, been eliminated from the maps at a prior stage of the investigation. Further, be it noted that all the photographs represented the work of similar temperatures, for they were all taken with electric arcs, for the production of which the same number of Grove’s cells was used in all cases. Since therefore these lines which were common to two or more spectra, could not be traced to impurities, what was their probable origin? Their number was so great that to attribute them to physical coincidences, and to rest and be thankful accordingly, would have been to take the very pith and marrow out of the science of spectrum analysis, which we have heard so often is based absolutely upon different substances giving us spectra with special lines for each. The matter then was worthy of serious investigation. Using the analogy presented by the spectroscopic behaviour of known compounds when simplified by heat, a simple explanation of these common lines lay on the surface. This explanation is as follows :— The temperature of the sun and the electric arc is high enough to dissociate some of the so-called chemical -elements, and give us a glimpse of the spectra of their bases, just as in the case of the various salts of calcium there is a temperature which just allows us to get a glimpse of a line indicating the metal calcium common to them all. Hence it was allowable to term the coincident lines of the second order “basic lines,” since they might point to the existence of a base common to the substances in the spectra of which they appeared. Davy, before he dis- covered potassium, used, as I have since found, the word “basic ’’ to express the same idea. I propose in the present paper to refer to some of the facts collected along one line of work to which my subsequent studies of these lines has led me, with a view to show that their true basic nature can now no longer be open to doubt. Naturally the first thing to do was to see if these basic lines varied in their behaviour from other lines of | spectra taken at random. Supposing them to represent — mere chance coincidences—“ physical coincidences,’’ as they have been called, or again, lines so near together that our means cannot separate them—there is no reason why they should vary together when the temperature is changed ; while, if they be truly basic, they mews¢ vary with tem- | perature. Further, they must vary in such a way that other conditions being equal, they shall become stronger when the temperature is increased, and become fainter when the temperature is reduced. Now what was the best mode of attacking this problem? © I was unable to see a more expeditious one than that ~ presented to us by the sun. The following consideration will show how we might hope for help in this quarter. = We are accustomed to say that the sun is surrounded — by an enormous atmosphere, and that this atmosphere has | in it the vapours of metals, such as iron, magnesium, &c., with which metals we are familiar on this planet. This statement has been based on the near agreement pre- sented by the places of the lines in the spectrum of the | substances as studied in our laboratories and the Fraun- hofer lines themselves. The matching of these spectra is nothing like so perfect, and the conclusien drawn, therefore, is nothing like so firmly based, as is gene- rally imagined; but this point need not occupy our © attention at present; what it is important for us to bear in mind is this: whatever be the chemical | nature of this atmosphere, it will certainly be hotter at | bottom—that is, nearer the photosphere—than higher up. Hence, if temperature plays any part in moulding the conditions by which changes in the resulting spectrum are brought about, the spectrum of the atmosphere close to the photosphere will be different from that of any higher _ region, and therefore from the general spectrum of the © sun, which practically gives us the summation of all the absorptions of all the regions from the top of the atmo- sphere to the bottom, Now as a matter of fact we have the opportunity, when we observe the spectrum of a sun-spot or a prominence, of determining the spectrum of an isolated mass of © vapours in the hottest region open to our inquiries, and seeing whether it is like or unlike the general spectrum of the sun. What then are the facts? It is as unlike as possible: the intensities of the lines are inverted to a wonderful extent. More than this there is a constant difference between the spectra of sun-spots and the spectra of metallic prominences, though we see these phenomena generally at about the same #veaw in the sun’s atmosphere. This may arise from the fact that in the case of the spots we deal generally with a greater thickness of the vapours. ; To get the best idea of this inversion I have prepared maps of the spectra of the chief chemical substances showing the behaviour of the various lines under the various conditions. The result is very striking; indeed it is striking to quite an unexpected degree. The whole character of the spectrum of iron, for instance, is — changed when we pass from the iron lines seen among ~ the Fraunhofer lines to those seen among the spot- and storm-lines; a complex spectrum is turned into a simple one, the feeble lines are exalted, the stronger ones suppressed almost altogether. Since then the spectra of spots and prominences are confessedly the spectra of the hottest region of the sun available to our inquiries, we can test the nature of the basic lines by seeing how they behave when we pass from _ the general solar to these special solar spectra. 9 With special reference to this point I have brought together the various observations which have been re- eorded of the lines visible in solar disturbances at the sun’s limb, and those observed to be widened, brightened, _ or otherwise modified in the spectra of solar spots. The finest series of observations of this kind that we ‘possess is that collected by Prof. Young near the time of the last maximum of sun-spots, during his stay at Sherman, at a height of 8,000 feet. The result which stares us in the face when we examine the work done by Young is most striking ; but although his observations of the chro- _ mospheric lines extend over the whole visible spectrum, the list of lines in the solar spots is limited to the less _refrangible region ; we must therefore limit the discussion _ to this region. _ As a basis for the discussion, I have used the lines given in Thalén’s admirable tables, comparing them with those shown in Angstrém’s map, and indicating the in- _ tensities of the lines which are given in the tables, and _ which particular line occurs in the map only. A glance then shows which line is seen in spots and prominences, and how it is affected. In short we have in one view, for each metallic substance, exactly what happens to the lines of that substance—which lines are not touched; _those which are visibly affected both in spots and storms, _ or those recorded in one table and not in the other. _ Taking all the lines included in the discussion, the following statistics will show how they are distributed :— Total number of lines in Thalén’s list and map included in the discussion... ... ... « 345 Number of lines affected in spots ... ... ... 108 Number of lines bright in storms ... .. a, Nee Number of lines common to spots and storms 68 Number of lines seen in neither spotsnor storms 183 So much for the list of lines as a whole. It is also necessary to show the number of lines assigned to each metal, and those among them which occur in both spots and storms, or only in one or the other, ; al 0") Number of lines due Numb = 5 ME ae lincs,.| to spots. * feted. and storms, Spots. Storms. Sodium + 6 6 ° Magnesium 4 3 ° um ws 3 7 14 Calcium... 15 10 i Strontium ... ° ° 18 Nickel... 3 2 8 _ 3 3 16 a ese 3 6 9 Cadmium ° ° 15 Chromium .. 3 5 9 Titanium 18 15 62 maxon... 50 62 25 z fei ae); 345 | 68 1c8 122 183 It will be seen that the ratio between the affected and unaffected lines is very variable. What strikes one, indeed, is the wonderful irregularity in the behaviour of the various lines ; there is no relation, for instance, between the widening of the lines in the spots and their appear- ances in the prominences. It may here be asked, ‘‘But what has this to do with basic lines?” I answer, it would have nothing to do with basic lines if Thalén had not observed them; but in his observations, which are the we p/us ultra of spectroscopic accuracy, he came across them abundantly. The basic lines therefore have the great advantage of not being new. Among the 345 lines given by Thalén are 18 with identical readings in two spectra. They are, therefore, the exact equivalents of those lines which I have found to be basic in work on another part of the spectrum. Now, for the reasons above given, if my explanation of their basic character be the correct one, then we should expect a considerable development of these lines in the spectrum of the hottest regions of the sun, which spots and storms enable us to study apart from the absorption going on at higher levels. It is not too much to say that the result of this inquiry settles this question in the most conclusive way. What does come out in the strongest manner is the following very remarkable fact. The only constant thing in the tables employed in the inquiry is, that these basic lines are always widened in the spots. However badly the brighter lines of a chemical substance, taken as a whole, may be represented amongst the spot lines, as the basic lines, among these which are often of the second or third order of intensity and some- times even of the fourth, are never absent. The same fact holds almost equally true with regard to the storms. The following comparison of Thalén’s basic lines with those seen by Young in solar spots and storms shows this result :— Thalén. Young. Spots Storms. Wave-length:| Common to | Intensity. | > Widen- Fre- Bright- | ing. quency. ness. 5207°6 Fe Cr san 4 10 6 5203°7 Hew Gr esa 4 10 6 5340°2 Fe Mn 2 3 2 I 2 6064°5 | Fe Ti 2s 3 5 2 5661°5 ) Fe Ti gq. 4 15 2 5403°I Be or Be 3 4 5 3 5396°1 Pe ii 2 2 7 4 Zz 5352°4 Fe €a aug 2 4 2 5265'8 Fe Co Ze 2 Io 4 5168°3 | Fe Ni | 3 5 4 40 30 5166°7 Fe Me" e201 2 30 20 56814 | Fe Na | 3 3 3 2 : 6121°2 Co Ca EB 3 4 5 3 5601°7 Gari 4.5 2 5597°2 Ca, He 5 2 5856'5 Ca Ni ge 2 2 54250 | Ba Ti | 3 3 4 6449°0 Ca Ba | 2 3 2 So far as my own knowledge of these matters goes, I can imagine no severer test to apply to the hypothesis that the basic lines in the above table are produced by the dissociation of the metals to which the lines are common, —in this case chiefly the metals of the iron group—in the hottest region of the sun, and to my mind the proof is conclusive that at that temperature we have a mixed mass of vapours in which the base is more predominant than the so-called chemical elements to which that base is common. : But although I hold that this is the most conclusive test to apply, it is not the only one which the sun affords us. We have every reason to believe that there is a con- siderable difference in the temperature of the spot- and storm-stratum when it is absolutely quiescent and cut off ‘from all visible action from below, and again when it is riddled with convection currents of the most tremendous character, in other words that its temperature at the sun- spot maxima and minima is not the same. Hence we may imagine that the difference of temperature will affect the basic lines especially, and that they will be stronger at one period of the sun-spot curve than at another. I limit myself for the present to the statement that this comparison has also been made to a certain extent, and that the result of it is entirely in harmony with what has gone before, so far as the observations go, but more spots must be observed before a complete discussion is possible. This, however, is certain, that basic lines widened at Sherman in 1872 were not observed widened at Greenwich in 1877, or at Kensington in the spots which appeared last month. I for my part, then, am perforce driven by the stern logic of facts to the conclusion that these “basic lines” are not accidental; are not “physical coincidences ;” and do not owe their origin to impurities ; but that their appearance in two or more spectra is dependent upon high temperature merely. The original statement, then, that the spectrum of each element consists only of lines special to that element, is found to be insufficient when the highest temperatures and the greatest dispersions are employed, anda “higher law” has to be introduced to bring the statements of the text- books into harmony with the facts. The dissociation of the elements of the iron group at the highest temperatures we can command and in the sun, is a cause by which this fact can be explained, if we accept the law of continuity, and reason on well based analogies. This, of course, constitutes a new departure in spectrum analysis, whatever its bearing may be found to be upon Chemical Philosophy, when that subject is again studied as it once was. To those who follow the line of reasoning on such a subject which the spectroscope provides us with, and even to those who admit the cogency of the conclusions, it will be astonishing that such a result has been arrived at in sach an indirect way; there are, however, many minds so constituted that they will prefer to endow matter with any number of undreamt of qualities before they will accept such a solution. But for all that, when the facts are well considered by competent authorities, it will, I think, be granted that an inorganic evolution is already glimpsed, in the study of which we shall not be baffled by any “ breaks in strata.” J. NORMAN LOCKYER NATURE [Woz. 6, 1879 MIND IN THE LOWER ANIMALS Mind in the Lower Animals in Health and Disease. By W. Lauder Lindsay, M.D., F.R.S.E., F.LS., &¢. ’ (London: C. Kegan Paul and Co., 1879.) a R. LAUDER LINDSAY has long been known as. a contributor to periodical literature in the province of comparative psychology. The work which he now publishes with the above title clearly represents a great amount of labour. It is in two large octavo volumes which together present somewhat over 1,000 pages, and” contain references to the writings of about 200 authors. It is furnished with an excellent index and a bibliography. The latter, we are told, is “confined to works consulted by the author,” and “almost exclusively to those pub- lished in Britain and in the English language.” The work is also furnished with a long ‘‘ enumeration of the animals whose character and habits form the basis of the author's generalisations.” The list includes 908 species belonging to 516 genera, both the popular and the scien-— tific names being in every case supplied. ‘a In so extensive a work by so well-known a man there is, as we should expect, a great deal that is both of inte- rest and value. Particularly in this connection may be pointed out his compilation and digestion of facts regard- ing the psychology of savages as contrasted with that of animals, and also many of his observations on the insanity of animals as compared with the insanity of man. His chapters on “General Adaptiveness and “The Use of Instruments’? also deserve, on the whole, to be com- mended. But while we welcome a book—and especially a popular book—the leading object of which is to prove the kinship of animal intelligence to human, it is impossible not to. regret the occurrence of certain faults which the exercise of a little more judgment might have obviated. In the first place the work is painfully diffuse. Whole pages, and even chapters, might with advantage have been omitted, while there are but few chapters which might not, with” equal advantage, have been considerably condensed. Those, for instance, on “ Faults of Terminology,” “ Ani- mal Reputation,’ ‘ Responsibility of Animals,” and — others, appear utterly useless. Whether or not it is accurate to call the lower animals “dumb,” “lower,” &c., and whether or not the “reputation ” of a dog suffers from the use of such terms as “ dogging,” “ hounding,” “cat and dog life,” &c., and whether or not any one is so foolish as to suppose that a smuggler’s dog is morally responsible for a smuggler’s acts; whether or not these things are so, they are certainly not of sufficient import-_ ance to demand lengthy discussion. Again, such state- ments as the following are quite superfluous, at least out of a nursery-book :— a “While the dog barks, bites, growls, howls, whines, sniffs, and snarls; the horse neighs, kicks, stamps, paws, — snorts, champs, lashes its tail; the cat purrs, scratches, — hisses, mews ; cattle low, butt, gore, bellow ; the elephant | trumpets, roars, screams; the sheep and goat bleat; the | ass brays, the cock crows, and the hen clucks and cackles.” This is all quite true, but it is not new; and the same remark is applicable to pages and pages of both volumes. In short, unlimited diffusiveness is the worst fault of the book. The next worst fault is that of presenting alleged Now. 6, 1879] NATURE 9 facts of animal intelligence on evidence that is obviously insufficient. Thus, for example, we are told that the hermit crab “has been noticed to feed the anemone (on his shell) with his pincer-like claws;’’ that ants ‘‘employ language of command;”’ that “snails are capable of concerted action;” that fish may die of “grief from _ bereavement ;”’ that dogs exhibit ‘‘ modesty or decency ;” s' y that monkeys “turn keys in doors, without noise, to secure themselves against interruption, discovery, or capture ;” and so on, while in none of these cases are any facts or authorities given to support the assertions. Again, in many other cases where the facts and authorities are given, they are of a kind that ought not to have any place in a treatise which aims at a scientific discussion of its subject. For instance, we are told, without any expres- sion of doubt on the part of the author, that “Daniell shows how a mere passing fancy for—a glimpse at—some dog, on the part of a pointer bitch, so impressed her memory and imagination that she transmitted this impress in a physical form to her progeny.’’ Again, on no better authority than that of Tie Animal Worid—from which, indeed, Dr. Lindsay is very fond of quoting—we are expected to believe that “ certain sparrows that failed, by seizing its wings with their bills, to lift a wounded com- panion, so as to convey it to a position of safety, got a twig, and while the maimed bird took hold of its centre _ by its bill, two of its companions seized, one each of its ends, so raised the helpless sparrow from the ground, and removed it to a safer place.’’ And, to give only one other illustration, on the authority of an American paper called the Christian Union, we are told this painfully pathetic _ story :—“‘A young rat had fallen into a pail of pig-food ; _ six older ones held a consultation so earnest in its cha- racter as to lead them to ignore the presence of human on-lookers. They decided on-an ingenious scheme of _ rescue, and successfully carried it out. Entwining their legs together, they formed a chain, hanging downwards over the edge of the pail. The foremost or downmost rat grasped the drowning, and, as it subsequently proved, drowned, young one in its fore-paws, and both rescued and rescuer were then drawn up and out. When found to be dead, the rescuers gazed at their young comrade in ‘mute despair,’ wiped the tears from their eyes with their fore-paws, and departed without making any attempts to resuscitate it,’’ k Evidently these rats were not acquainted with the Royal Humane Society’s directions for the restoration of the apparently drowned, and considering that the calamity _ occurred in a civilised country, the most striking feature of the incident appears to be the ignorance which the animals displayed in yielding to grief “without making any attempts’’ to produce artificial respiration. Another fault which pervades the work is that of undue eagerness to prove that no difference in kind exists between the mind of man and the mind of the lower animals—a fault which leads the author into the opposite error of disparaging such difference as does exist. Thus _ the book abounds with such statements as the following :— “There are countless thousands—many whole races—(of men) that are intellectually and morally the zuferiors of _ many well-trained mammals, such as the chimpanzee, orang, dog, elephant, or horse; or birds, such as the _ parrot, starling, magpie, jackdaw, and various crows; as a \ well as many animals much lower in the zoological scale, and not trained by man at all, such as the ant, bee, and wasp.’ And this belief in the mental equality, or even superiority, of animals as compared with the lower races of man, is doubtless the explanation of the writer’s tendency to attribute to rational thought actions of animals which are much more probably due to other causes. For instance: “A cat was found drowned in a pond immediately after the death of a master to whom it had been much attached. It had left the house on his illness a fortnight previously, refusing to enter it again (Animal World). The inference was that grief had led to deliberate self-destruction ; but the verdict of accidental drowning, is, of course, equally permissible.’ The word “ equally ” here serves to illustrate our meaning. With regard to references there is also a serious com- plaint to be made. It is not enough to give the name of an author without any reference to the part of his writings where his facts or opinions are stated. Thus, although - Dr. Lindsay’s pages are thickly strewn with the names of his authorities in brackets, his readers will but rarely have the opportunity, without an impracticable amount of trouble, of seeing exactly what these authorities them- selves have to say on the topics in connection with which they are quoted. On minor faults or errors it is needless to dwell—such as the curious notion which Dr, Lindsay seems to enter- tain, that the word “glutton” is derived from the synonym of the wolverine, instead of vice versd (p. 92). The chief faults are undoubtedly those which have been mentioned, and they have been mentioned in order to suggest that, should there be a second edition of the book, it would be greatly improved by presenting less diffusiveness and more discrimination than is presented by the first edition. GEORGE J. ROMANES OUR BOOK SHELF An Atlas of Anatomy ; or, Pictures of the Human Body, in Twenty-four Quarto Coloured Plates, comprising One Hundred Separate Figures. With descriptive Letterpress by Mrs. Fenwick Miller, Member of the London School Board, &c. (London: Edward Stan- ford, 1879.) TuHIs work has been issued at a comparatively low price in the hope that it may be found useful both to science teachers and to all kinds of students. Children, we have it on the authority of Mrs. Miller, with their keen interest in the facts of Nature and with their fresh undistracted minds full of curiosity about what is around them, are always found to take a deep interest in the wonderful structure and functions of their own bodies. The subjects of anatomy and physiology have been introduced into many of the London Board Schools and haye been found wonderfully popular among the children. An Inspector records that he has often been struck with the alacrity with which the children rush to their seats for an oral examination in physiology, even at the end of a long and tiring day of inspection. Truly such children must be very desirous to know all about themselves, and for such, no doubt such a volume as this would prove quite an acceptable gift. Nearly all the drawings represented in the plates are new—never before published in any form in England. Some of them are from Dr. Heitzmann’s Atlas, others are drawn from preparations in the Vienna Museum of Anatomy. In writing the letterpress the authoress had mainly in view the requirements of young students, and she has not assumed that any of her readers ) fe) possess any knowledge of the subject. We are not disposed to be critical on a work published with such evidently good intentions. The physiological portions of the text are good, and if thoroughly taught to students and understood by them will place them far above the ordinary standpoint of the medical student of the day. The more purely anatomical descriptions would have been improved if written more for the plates than they have been. The plates themselves will be found extremely useful. We should have preferred that the amount of enlargement of the figures was always given; structures also like those figured at A on Plate xxiv. should be clearly defined as only diagrammatic representations, and a little greater attention to correctness of outline might fairly have been bestowed on the figures representing parts of the skeleton. The letterpress is accompanied by a pretty copious index to the plates, which might even still with advantage be greatly enlarged. This book in the hands of an intelligent teacher will be found most useful and instructive, and it may be made the text from which to preach many a most important practical lesson. Take the short paragraph headed Salivary Glands, how much human suffering might be avoided by a right com- prehension of the facts therein stated. Electric Transmission of Power. By Paget Higgs, LL.D., D.Sc. (London: E. and F. N. Spon, 1879.) ONE of the important practical questions which an engineer continually has to face is the transmission of power from the place where the power is generated to the spot where the power is needed. Where the distance is great, belts and shafting are not only wasteful but imprac- ticable, and hydraulic or pneumatic transmission is called into play. Here, again, great distances cannot be sur- mounted without great loss of power, and hence from time to time many wistful glances have been turned in the direction of electricity. It is only to-day, however, that, amid the manifold applications of electricity, its employ- ment as an economical means of transmitting power has become a question of practical importance. At the Loan Collection of Scientific Apparatus exhibited at South Kensington in 1876, two small magneto-electric machines made by Gramme were to be seen illustrating this electric transmission of power. The mechanical work expended in one machine was converted into electricity, conducted over a considerable space, and transformed again into mechanical work by the other machine. The amount of power practically reclaim- able by such an arrangement, as shown by recent ex- periments quoted in the little work before us, “may amount to 48 per cent. of that expended in the first instance. This amount of reclaimed power is indubitably superior to that obtained with compressed air, and approaches the practical efficiency of hydraulic transmis- sion” (p. 85). With great distances the relative efficiency of electric transmission must be still more marked, besides the advantage that the conductor, having nothing to burst or give way, can be led in any direction or freely moved whilst transmitting many horse-power. Already in France ploughing has been done by electricity with advantage, and where natural sources of power, as waterfalls or tidal action, exist in any neighbourhood, the extreme value to a community of this novel application of electricity is sufficiently obvious. Municipal authorities might find in the water supply of a town an unexpected source of in- come. For where there is a continuous supply of water under considerable pressure, as is the case inan increasing number of our large towns, baths and washhouses might be erected in the lower parts of the town, and the energy possessed by the water converted into electricity and dis- tributed for sale as power, whilst the matter of the water would of course remain equally serviceable for the pur- poses intended. To those interested in the general question of the electric transmission of power we do not know any better NATURE ™ [Wov. 6, 1879 guide than Prof. Ayrton’s admirable lecture on this subject before the British Association. To the student the work before us will be found useful for more extended reference, as it gives the salient features of the investigations by Mascart, Hopkinson, Siemens, Houston and Thomson, and others, on the efficiency of various dynamo-electric machines. But we regret that Dr. Higgs has issued this book with such precipitate haste, for, as it stands, it isa most slovenly piece of patchwork, and to be of real use to the public it must be in part rewritten and the facts presented in a more intelligible and orderly sequence. ~f, LETTERS TO THE EDITOR [Zke Editor does not hold himself responsible for opinions expressed by his correspondents. Neither can he undertake to return, or to correspond with the writers of, rejected manuscripts, No notice is taken of anonymous communications. ? (The Editor urgently requests correspondents to keep their letters as short as possible. The pressure on his space is so great that it ts impossible otherwise to ensure the appearance even of com- munications containing interesting and novel facts.] Sun-Spots in Earnest THE communications in NATURE, vol. xx. p. 625, regarding the note of Prof. Piazzi Smyth, NATURE, vol. xx. p. 602, induce me to send an extract from my observing-book on those spots, together with some observations of them by Herr Hartwig, assistant to the observatory, My observations of the sun are made with a rather small tele- scope, aperture of object-glass by Reinfelder and Hertel, of Munich, 74mm., with Merz polarisation eye-piece, power 55, images very fine, colourless. 1879. = Strassb. . m. October 6 o o Nospot on the sun. cet: A) 7 o 10 On the following limb two great regions of faculz, with extremely narrow black spots in them, ” 8... ¥ oO The group of faculz, seen yesterday, contains to-day three great spots, with double nuclei; besides that there is a fourth system of three or four smaller spots with penumbra. I did not look at the sun on the following days. The observations of Herr Hartwig are made by projection and with the heliometer of the observatory. By this instrument the polar and equatorial diameter of the sun has been measured every day since April, 1876, clouds permitting, It was during this series of micrometric measurements that Herr Hartwig made his remarks. Sid. T. Strassb. October 6-7 12 50 The sun appears without spots. » 7-8 ... 12 25 Sun without spots; very bad defini- tion. » 8-9 ... 12 10 Beautiful group of spots near the following limb. 3, IO-II ... 12 15 Same group of spots, as seen the day before yesterday. Four very great spots ; the following, which had ¢wo nuclei, like the others, has to-day three. s» 1I2-I3 ... 13 10 Double spot on the middle of the disk ; group of spots on the follow- ing limb. Afterwards the clouds did not permit the sun to be seen for a week, It appears from these observations, that this first great display of solar activity after the minimum of spots, entered the disk October 6-7; it passed off, as Mr, Christie remarks, October 21. A. WINNECKE Strassburg Observatory Subject-Indexes Most of those engaged in scientific work will probably agree with the views on this subject put forth by Mr. Wheatley in NATURE, vol, xx. p.627. There can be little doubt that a complete subject-index of scientific literature, in the sense in which it is generally understood, could not be compiled, ani that the result of an attempt to do so would be as useless as it Nov. 6, 1879] NATURE It would be cumbrous, for the obvious reason that in’/a given paper, much valuable work is recorded which served only as a means to the end treated of ; this work, therefore, lies hidden under a title which does not even remotely refer to it. On the other hand, the compilation of lists of papers on particular subjects is fraught with no great difficulty, and would be of very great value, While the preparation of such minor indexes founded on the Royal Society Catalogue may be left to private enterprise, great advantage would, I think, be derived from some united action in the matter. I have myself made considerable headway with a classified list of papers on the subject which chiefly interests me, and which perhaps is best named Molecular Physics. This work necessitates my going through the whole catalogue for the sake of comparatively few papers, and I am further obliged to copy out the titles of, and references to, the papers I require. Now, if a movable copy of the Royal Society’s Index were made as suggested by Mr. Garnett (NATURE, vol. xx. p. 554), and the different entries classified in sciences, these difficulties would be removed ; Mr. Garnett, however, underrates the cost of preparing such a moyable index, which would be large enough to deter many ‘gentlemen with leisure” from undertaking it. This work, therefore, must be carried out either by the Royal Society, or by a committee of those who take an interest in the subject ; when completed the index could be distributed among those willing to undertake the subsequent arrangement in subjects. There is another suggestion which I should like to make before closing this letter. Every month as it slips by adds rapidly to the enormous accumulation of scientific papers ; unless these are catalogued and classified immediately they are pub- lished, the subject catalogue will never be satisfactory. What is wanted, then, is the publication (say every quarter) of a complete list of the scientific papers published during that period. I am aware that, as mentioned by Mr. Garnett, many such lists now appear, but nove of them can be trusted as complete records. If, however, a list were published “by authority” (for example, by the British Museum or the Royal Society), scientific men all over the world would send the titles of their papers to be entered in it, and it would soon be recognised that those who did not do so would stand a chance of rendering their work useless to those who travel after them along the same paths. Science Schools, November 3 F, D. Brown t Easter Island IN the very interesting review of Mr, Wallace’s “ Australasia,” in NATURE, vol. xx. p. 598, there is a passing reference to some views of my own concerning the stone images of Easter Island. The nature of the inferences that may be drawn in this case is not, I think, generally understood ; and without wishing to give the subject more importance than it deserves, I should be glad if you could allow me space for a few words upon it. Any positive ideas about the people who made them can hardly be got from the images themselves. They are rudely carved and ugly, and no existing race attempts to make anything really like them. But they are very numerous and very large ; many of them weigh twenty tons, some probably two or three times as much. They have been quarried from a volcanic hill, conveyed several miles, and set upright upon pedestals, on tmassive stone terraces of great length. Work of this kind re- quires a definite amount of labour and strength, The amount available depends on the population, The population of a solitary island inhabited by savages is strictly limited by its area ; the area of Easter Island is not more than forty square miles. There is, I believe, no known example in which an island of this kind supports, in an uncivilised state, more than fifty persons to the square mile, This is double the usual limit among savages, Two thousand, therefore, would be the extreme limit of the population of Easter Island, unassisted from without ; it has not more than half this number at present. In a population of 2,000 there are about 500 adult males, and we are to consider whether the work could have been done or even thought of with this amount of physical strength. It is, doubtless, quite impossible. A much larger number of people, or the help of civilised appli- ances, must necessarily have been at hand ; but neither of these could be at hand without external help, and this could only reach the island across two thousand miles of ocean. This is the really important point in this chain of inferences. We are led by what I think are inevitable steps to the conclusion that when these images were made there was a nation some- where whose ships navigated the Pacific Ocean in such a manner om Easter Island could for a long period be supported as a colony. I will not speak here of the anthropological bearings of this inference. Let me, however, enter a gentle protest against the sentence in which your reviewer speaks of “the accepted scien- tific position that primitive man was savage.” No doubt this is at present the belief of the majority of those who express their views ; but there are names of great weight on the other side, and, considering what our actual knowledge of ‘* primitive man” amounts to just now, it is rather hard upon science to make her responsible for our speculations, November 3 ALBERT J. MoTT Animals and the Musical Scale IN a criticism in the Zxaminer of a book of mine on the ** Theory of Music,” the writer says :— ** We can hardly agree with Dr. Pole’s view as to the essential artificiality of the diatonic scale, especially in the light of many facts collected by Mr. Darwin and other good observers. It is now almost certain that several of the lower animals have a very fair notion of the scale, and employ notes almost, if not quite, identical as to interval with our own.” If any of your readers can bring forward well authenticated facts of the kind they will be very interesting. Athenzum Club, October 29 WILLIAM POLE John Miers IN your notice of the late venerable botanist, Mr. John Miers, in NATURE, vol. xx. p. 614, it is stated that “to the last he disbelieved in the action of the pollen and of the pollen-tube in the formation of the embryo-plant.” It is possible that the writer may have had some farther warrant for this statement than the views published by Mr. Miers in his memoir on Afyostoma (Trans. Linn. Soc., xxv. pp. 461-475 (1866), but it is scarcely borne out by them. Mr. Miers’s position as there expressed is that ‘‘it is not the pollen-tube, but simply the fluid-material contained in the pollen-grain, and emitted from its tubes, which is the direct agent in the process of fertilisation.” Whatever may be thought of this view, it is far from justifying the strong statement that in supporting it Miers ‘“‘disbelieved in the action of the pollen.” HENRY TRIMEN October 28 [It would certainly have been more explicit had we added the word “tube” to pollen. At p. 468 of the paper cited by Dr. Trimen, Mr. Miers remarked ‘‘that the very important fact alluded to (the impact of the pollen-tube on the embryo-sac and the consequent fertilisation of the ovule) has not yet been satis- factorily proved.” This was written in 1866. In the same paper ‘we have it demonstrated that in this case (Myostoma) the theory of the application of pollen-tubes for the fertilisation of its ovules is distinctly disproved.”’—ED. ] The Howgate Arctic Expedition Carr. Howeate, U.S.A., having for some years past fruit- lessly endeavoured to obtain the comparatively small grant of 50,000 dollars from the American Government, for the purpose of carrying out his peculiar scheme of Arctic exploration, by forming a colony of active and experienced men, with a few families of Eskimos, at the coal-bed discovered some years ago in Lady Franklin Bay, Smith Sound, lat. 81° N., has deter- mined to equip a private expedition on a smaller scale with this object. x screw-steamer of about 140 tons (cargo measurement) has been bought for Capt. Howgate in the Clyde, has been refitted there, but not strengthened for ice navigation, which is to be done at Washington, and will, wind and weather permitting, sail for America on ‘Thursday, November 6. As most of your readers probably already know, Capt. How- gate’s intention is that the explorers, instead of living on board ship, shall pass the winter in wooden houses taken out on pur- pose in frames, to be set up near the coal-seam, the party to remain in this locality for two or more years, watching a favour- able opportunity of smooth ice or open water to push northward, and occupying their time vsefully in making scientific observa- tions, which are still much wanted in that far north region. Balloons, the telegraph, and probably the telephone, may be brought into use. -R 12 NATURE | Vou. 6, 1879 Intellect in Brutes I AM in possession of an intelligent pointer dog, not quite two years old. The manner in which he makes his exit from the garden brought forcibly to my recollection Prof. Mébius’s experiment with a pike, as narrated by Mr. Romanes in his article *‘ Animal Intelligence” in the MWineteenth Century for October 1878, p. 659. A pike took three months to learn that he could not reach a minnow separated from him by a sheet of plate glass, and after its removal he never afterwards attacked the minnow. As Mr, Romanes says: “the firmly-established association of ideas never seems to have become disestablished.” My pointer seems to arrive at an established association of ideas as fixed as the pike, a fact extremely interesting, considering that the dog is much higher in the scale of life than a fish, The dog, when young, could only escape out of the garden through.a small and difficult gap between the gate-post and the fence—a rose one. Some months ago a spar was broken out of the gate, and though the hole thus made was from the ground upwards, and quite large enough to allow of the passage of a large dog through it, yet it never took advantage of it. About a month ago a friend presented me with a young dog of the same variety, and it a¢ once discovered the hole in the gate and went through it. But the older dog continues still to use the old gap between the post and the fence, and singularly enough it will see its companion pass through the hole in the gate, and it will even put its head through the vacan* space and then turn aside and painfully crawl through the fence gap, which as a young dog it had discovered and used. : The discussion concerning the intelligence of the lower animals carried on in NATURE has interested some of us here. The following, regarding the gnawing of lead by rats, may perhaps interest your readers. Capt. Moir of the 99th Regiment, at present stationed here, stowed me three bullets, still in the cartridge (for the Martini-Henry rifle), half eaten away by the rats, at Fort Chelmsford, Zululand. The rodents had made their way into the hayersack in which the cartridges were, cut the strings tying the packet of cartridges, tore the brown paper off in which they were rolled, and then nibbled at the balls. ‘These cartridges are made up in thin brass—which in no case was gnawed at. Nearly the longitudinal half of the exposed part. of one bullet was eaten away ; they had eaten into half the bullet, crossways of another cartridge, and in the third case they had nibbled off the point of a bullet. It cannot be supposed that they nibbled for nibbling’s sake ; doubtless the smell of the grease in the cartridges attracted their attention to the haversacks, and the smell of the grease behind the bullets led them to attack the bullets—the only vulnerable point. JAMES TURNBULL Grey Town, Natal, September 8 P.S.—There is a rat in Natal which, so far as I can gather, frequently carries its young ones before they are covered with hair ; the little things cleave to the teats with mouth arid feet, Gilbert White mentions that he once met with such an instance in England. I have not secured a specimen of this rat, though I have seen it once, and once only.—J. T. Centipedes and Bees As a postscript to Dr. Hutchinson’s letters, I offer the following :— The centipede does not ‘‘bite” at all—it makes tiny incisions with its numerous feet, which in themselves cause trifling incon- venience ; but, when alarmed, it drops into each some kind of venom that causes intense inflammation (the modus operandi I now forget, but a medical friend explained it very clearly). I once had a centipede’s nest in or near my bath-room, no less than eleven of different sizes having been killed there. Our first knowledge of them was derived from an infant child of the female servant, who, having been left on the floor there, was found crying and writhing beyond all soothing. When brought to me the child was feverish and restless, the /eft hand specially hot ; onremoving the little jacket, the fore-arm was found greatly swelled and inflamed, with two rows, less than half an inch apart, of pricks showing white on the delicate brown flesh. Ipecacuanha and eau de luce soon subdued the pain, but it was days before the child was well again. Several other persons also suffered from them, but only in one case was the line of pricks clearly traceable, Once, stooping to take up a water-pot, I felt a little froissement about the thumb ; looking down, I per- ceived a centipede fully four inches long, which deliberately crawled across my hand near the knuckles, causing no pain, but a most unpleasant titillation, which continued for some time, though I put the hand in cold water immediately. On another occasion, seeing a centipede on the naked foot of one of the women, I called out to her, ‘‘ Roho mut” (do not stir), and she similarly escaped all serious injury, while an application of warm oil very quickly removed all irritation. Of course it is only when crawling straightforward and undisturbed that the line of pricks can possibly be detected. On disturbance the animal shrinks up, curls round, and brings a number of them into one spot; at least such was the case the only time I ever saw a centi- pede do mischief ; and the same appeared probable on other occasions when I saw merely the after-result. I remember once, in the jungles of Rohilkund, one of our line of elephants brushed down a bee’s nest from an old tree. Some of the nearest men were immediately stung; the servant behind me instantly wrapped me in a shawl I had beside me, then wrapped himself from head to foot in his large Kummerbund, as did all the other men, and off we went at speed to a small river not far off, where the elephants (who had not escaped) plunged themselves to their very backs, as the only mode of getting rid of their little assailants, : I may add that a small black scorpion common in the Dehlie division is very venomous. I have myself seen a case in which its ‘* strike” was nearly fatal to a shepherd of about fifty years of age. MEMORIA Bone-Sucking—A Habit of Cattle THE habit of bone-sucking in cattle (NATURE, vol. xx. p. 457) is not peculiar to Natal. The learned Archbishop of Dublin, Dr. Whately, many years since made a most interesting communi- cation to the then existing Dublin Natural History Society on this subject, and stated his observation that animals addicted to bone-sucking invariably fell into an unhealthy state unless the bone was removed from the field. There is a scarcity of lime- stone, as Mr. Donovan suggests, with us to account for this ‘*bad habit,” for such the Archbishop considered it. Dublin W. FRAZER IN response to the letter of Mr. H. C. Donovan (NATURE, vol. xx. p. 457), in relation to the habit of cattle in the colony of Natal chewing bones, I beg leave to state that many years ago, in a monograph on ‘‘ Geophagy,” I had occasion to put on record a similar habit among the cows in one of the Southern Atlantic States of the United States (vide Southern Medical and Surgical Fournal, new series, vol. i. pp. 417-444, August, 1845). From this paper I quote (p. 442-443) the following extract bearing upon the question :— ‘*In confirmation of the importance of inorganic principles in the food, I will here adduce a remarkable fact which has repeatedly fallen under my own observation : The cows which live on the extensive savannas and pine-barrens lying on the north side of the Altamaba River, in McIntosh County, Georgia, subsist upon very coarse species of grasses, which are probably deficient in some of the phosphatic or calcareous ingredients essential to healthy nutrition, for these animals are constantly observed to chew bones, They frequently remain sta- tionary for hours, with the head elevated to prevent the saliva from escaping from the mouth ; they will, by constant trituration, gradually reduce the bony mass to a very small size, when it is rejected as an unmanageable morsel. ‘The cattle in this section of the state are usually rather lean, and cows brought from the fertile plantations in the neighbourhood, if allowed to subsist on what they can procure in the savannas and pine-barrens in the course of a year or two become equally thin, and ultimately fall into the habit of eating bones. I have not been able to ascertain whether these animals indulge in this habit to a greater extent when they are in a state of Avegnancy and when they are giving milk, but it appears reasonable that the increased demand for mineral matters under such conditions of the economy would call for a proportionate supply. The intelligent instinct which prompts these animals to seek for a diet so extraordinary must originate in an inadequate supply, in their impoverished aliment, of some of the inorganic principles (probably the phosphatic salts) essential to a proper nourishment of the osseous structures.” Berkeley, California, October 4 Joun LECONTE Earthquake in China THE north of China has been very unfortunate of late.. Famine has raged in the provinces of Shantung, Shansi, Shensi, and ei \ Nov. 6, 1879] NATURE 13 Honan within the last three or four years, and, in a less severe form, in one or two of the adjoining provinces. Shansi is still suffering, And now the south-east of the province of Kansah has been visited by a destructive earthquake. The Peking Gazette of the 22nd of August states that a memorial has been received from Tso Tsung-t’ang, Governor-General of Shensi and Kansuh, reporting that on June 29 a slight trembling was felt at Chich Chow, and at other sub-prefectures and districts within the province of Kansuh. This trembling, which occurred at first on alternate days and afterwards cortinued for several successive days, did not entirely cease until July 11. The earth-' quake would appear to have reached its height on the third day ; for Governor-General Tso reports that on July 1 there was a violent shaking accompanied by a noise. A temple, several official residences, and many dwelling-houses were completely destroyed, and many persons were killed and injured. In the Imperial edict Tso Tsung-t’ang is directed to send officers to the scene of the calamity to hold an investigation into the matter and afford relief to the sufferers. Canton, September 13 Vertical Shafts in the Chalk in Kent In the current number of Good Words there is a pleasant, gossiping paper by the Rev. J. G. Wood, giving an account of the curious well-like shafts found in the chalk about Erith. They are 40 feet to 100 feet in depth. Mr. Wood states that the sides show traces of having been wrought with picks made of deer antlers. He appears to accept the theory of local archeologists that the shafts were executed in ‘‘ prehistoric” times, in the quest for flints for weapons or for some less obvious purpose, Under any circumstances I should be loth to dispute the view of so competent an authority, and in this instance I have no local knowledge to guide me; but I should be grateful if some of your readers would satisfy me on the following point :—Is there any instance of similar excavations which have been conclu- sively proved to be the work of savages ancient or modern? I know of none within my own personal experience. Burrows on the “adit” or ‘‘gallery” principle, z.e., more or less horizontal, can be carried surprisingly far, so long as the roof does not fall in, We see this in the abodes of certain quadrupeds, But, to carry down a vertical shaft a few feet in diameter to a depth of 40 feet to 100 feet from the surface, even ina soil as favourable as chalk, appears to me to involve recourse to mechanical appliances not yet observed in use among primitive races. If I am wrong in this matter, the mode of excavation pursued by these rude shaft-sinkers certainly affords interesting matter for study. EH M."¢: London, November 1 THE FUNCTIONS OF UNIVERSITIES WE reproduce with pleasure the following extract from an article on this subject from the Zimes of Friday last, in connection with Prof. Max Miiller’s address at the Birmingham Midland Institute :— It would doubtless be unjust, as Prof Miiller points out in his address, to attribute the lack of spontaneity, the tendency to mechanical uniformity in academical studies, exclusively to the influence of an elaborate system of examinations. Examinations are clearly necessary, as he justly contends, even though they are no better than a necessary evil; but they are rather means than ends, and they clearly become mischievous when they corrode and destroy the true spirit of academical life. Prof, Miiller, a German professor in an English university, whose opinion is on that account entitled to peculiar weight, draws a favourable contrast between English and foreign uni- versities; the former, he says, are free and self-governed, and that gives them an unrivalled position in spite of all their faults. The remark is true and appropriate, espe- cially as a rejoinder to the hasty and _ ill-considered criticisms of Prof. Helmholtz in his rectorial address at Berlin, delivered some time ago. But the corporate freedom of the English universities, is, unhappily, not inconsistent with a good deal of personal bondage. Let ‘resident English graduate. us contrast, for instance, the career of a graduate of a German university with that of an English Fellow of a college. The former, as soon as he has passed the necessary examinations for his degree, is perfectly free to follow his own bent. Even in taking his degree he is entitled to claim it, partly at least, on the ground of some dissertation which he has written con- taining the results of his own independent study and research. If he elects to follow an academical career, he becomes at first a Privat-docent, and has to attract pupils, not by his power of preparing them for a particular examination, but by his command of all the available knowledge in a special branch of study, and by his capacity for enlarging its bounds. If he is called to be a professor, it is because he is known to be master of his subject, and to be keeping himself on a level with the march of knowledge in relation to it. The English graduade may have all the aspiration to follow this tareer of true academical freedom ; but his pupils for the most part have no higher object than to pass an examination, and it is his business to prepare them for it. Any know- ledge that he posseses beyond the range required for that purpose becomes a useless burden tohim. The results of fresh research necessarily find their way but slowly into examination papers, and consequently the teacher at an English university, if he studies at all, is bound to study, not for himself, but for his pupils. He must learn all that they want to know, and he must put his knowledge into the form which will be most readily available for their purposes. Hence, if he has time to write at all, he writes summaries of history, essays in philosophy, or prepares a handy edition of a portion of a classic commonly read in the schools. A learned and scholarly edition of an author unrecognised in our somewhat narrow classical curriculum, a history like Grote’s or Gibbon’s, a philosophical work like the “Essay on the Human Understanding,” or the “ Critique of Pure Reason,’’ are works hardly now to be looked for from a Professorial work, of course, is different ; it is beginning now to be recognised that it is the business of a professor to study widely and deeply and to advance the bounds of knowledge. But if the coming generation of teachers, the professoriate of the future, is to be confined to the range of a rigid and cramping sys- tem of examinations, narrow in their content, but all- embracing in their extent, what hope is there for that academic freedom, for that bracing spirit of living know- ledge, of active thought, of ever-advancing study which, as Prof, Miiller tells us, it is the true function of a uni- versity to foster and keep alive ? The truth is, perhaps, that our universities are a little too careful of the functions they so admirably discharge of finishing schools, a little too unmindful of those higher duties to which Prof. Miiller’s address forcibly calls attention. All that they do is done well, but there is still] one thing needful. “That is the true academic stage in every man’s life when he learns to work, not to please others, be they schoolmasters or examiners, but to please himself; when he works for sheer love of work in and for the highest of all purposes—conquest of truth.” How many of our English University students ever reach this stage at all? That they learn much and learn it well cannot be doubted, that they are examined much and are examined well is equally indisputable. But we should be very sorry to see the Universities complacently resign the function of making scholars in favour of that of test- ing the attainments of schoolboys. We are very far from arguing that examinations can be dispensed with alto- gether. They have their purpose, and it is a very neces- sary purpose to fulfil. It is their indirect results in stereotyping academical effort, in extinguishing academi- cal freedom, in discouraging wide study, in checking individuality, and in repressing spontaneity, rather than their direct results, that we have to fear The evil is no 14 NATURE [ Vou. 6, 1879 ~slight one, and we fear it is still on the increase. “Unless,” said Mill, “individuality shall be able to assert itself against the yoke of public opinion, Europe, notwithstand- ing its noble antecedents and its professed Christianity, will tend to become another China.’’ Prof. Miiller would persuade us that our Universities are a safeguard against this catastrophe. But when China is mentioned in con- nection with education, examinations are suggested by an irresistible association. If, therefore, England is to escape the fate of China, it is not only encouraging to reflect that the most conspicuous modern building in Prof. Miiller’s own University is the new Examination Schools. DESCRIPTION OF AN INSTRUMENT FOR EXPLORING DARK CAVITIES WHICH ARE INACCESSIBLE TO DIRECT LIGHT aN electric lamp has recently been proposed for surgical and dental operations.* Some years ago I designed an instrument for illuminating the dark cavities of the body which would, I think, be very serviceable in connection with an electric lamp. This instrument consists of a series of prisms arranged somewhat as in the corona employed for spectrum analysis. The accompanying woodcut will be sufficiently intelligible without any detailed description. The different prisms are of glass of such refractive indices as to secure achro- matism, and the rays of light are bent round corners, so ” as, finally, to reach an external observer. In most cases one or two such prisms will be sufficient, but any number may be employed so Jong as the loss of light from absorption, superficial reflection, and other causes is not so great as to defeat the object in view by destroying the distinctness of the image. THOMAS STEVENSON * Engineer, March, 1879. IMPROVEMENTS IN BLEACHING A. METHOD of applying the oninary bleaching agents (hypochlorites) in a new way has been invented by Count Dienheim de Brochocki of Paris. Instead of im- mersing the goods to be bleached in an ordinary “chloride of lime’’ vat, and subsequently souring, the inventor treats bleaching-powder with an acid and simultaneously passes air through the mixture, so that chlorine and hypochlorous acid vapours are mechanically carried off; the resulting gases are passed through an alkaline solution in such proportions as to saturate part or the whole of the alkali, or to supersaturate it at will. The resulting liquid is said to be sufficiently stable to be kept without change for two or three months; it can readily be prepared of a density of 30° Beaumé, and acts as a bleacher without requiring any acidulation, and for many purposes is said to be superior to the ordinary bleaching-vat. , To this liquid the fanciful name ‘‘ chlorozone” has been given, the inventor asserting that the oxidising power of a given quantity of bleaching-powder is zzcreased by this treatment through the fixation in the product of some of the oxygen of the air used as carrying agent; the which oxygen he conceives to be liberated in the form of ozone in contact with the goods to be bleached! Although no experimental proof of the truth of this somewhat novel proposition appears to have been vouchsafed to the scientific world, yet it would seem that the new product has at least some practical advantages over the older bleaching agents, as it is used to a considerable extent in Paris, whilst works for its manufacture on a large scale have been recently erected at Warrington by Messrs. Nath. Holmes and Partners. HERING’S THEORY OF THE. VISION OF LIGHT AND COLOURS?! III. eS the sixth and last memoir the author develops the part of his theory which has probably excited the most interest, namely, that of the vision of ce/ours. He devotes his first section to the ode of classification of colours, and as this is not only the most important part, but differs materially from the generally received views, it is desirable to give its substance pretty fully. He explains that, as he has based his general theory on what are naturally and physiologically two simple sensa- tions, white and black, so he proposes to base his treat- ment of colours on the ‘‘natural system of colour- sensations.” He then has to seek what the simple natural ~ sensations of colour are, neglecting in this classification all consideration of the physical properties usually con- nected with them. He inquires, therefore, what simple colour-sensations there are. .Taking the six usually ad- mitted, violet, blue, green, yellow, orange, and red, he finds that two, namely, violet and orange, are obviously compound sensations ; for in violet of every hue there can be distinguished clearly a mixture of the two sensa- tions, blue and red; and similarly in orange there can always be traced the elements of red and yellow. The other four colours are red,? green, blue, and yellow. None of the sensations known by these names contain, when pure, any semblance of another colour-sensation. These four, therefore, may with perfect correctness, as was pointed out by Leonardo da Vinci, be considered as simple or fundamental colour-sensations, On this account they have received special names, not borrowed from any coloured natural objects. ; . All other colour-sensations than these may be called mixed or compound sensations, as two elements can always be discovered in them; but it is a fixed principle * Continued from vol. xx. p. 639- j t : o his, however, is not the spectral red, which contains a mixt re of yellow. Nov. €, 1879} NATURE ¥5 that more than two simple colours can never be evident in the same mixture. . There is also a natural peculiarity in the capabilities of the various simple colours for combining with each other. Red will combine with yellow or blue, but not with green, z.., red and green can never be both distinguished in the same combinations. Similarly, yellow will combine with red or green, but not with blue. Green will combine with blue or yellow, but not with red; and blue will combine with red or green, but’ not with yellow. In other words, we find the natural law that on the one hand Red and Green, and on the other hand Blue and Yellow, are never visible together in the same combination ; they are incap- able of combining together. What the cause of this is it is impossible to say. It is customary in books on physics to say that red and green, or blue and yellow combined, make white; but this is only true when by red, green, &c., are meant ether vibrations, and not physiological sensations; for to insist that red A/zs green makes white in the same sense that red #/us blue makes violet would be contrary to common observation, for in pure white there is no trace of any colour-sensation whatever. It must, therefore, be something in the natural connection of these colours with our sense of vision that makes these combinations incompatible with each other; and for the sake of using a short expression for this relation, the author proposes, in consideration of their so-to-speak inimical relations to each other, to call red and green, or blue and yellow opposite, or contrary, or antagonistic colours (Gegenfarben).> The combination of any simple colour-sensation with that of another (not antagonistic) gives a sensation of a different Ave (Farbenton), and the hue will vary accord- ing to the proportions of the components. Thus different proportions of red and blue will give different hues of violet, and so on. The whole scale of these may be conveniently expressed by a “colour circle.” Divide a circle into four quadrants, and at each point of division put one of the four simple colours, arranging the an- tagonistic ones diametrically opposite to each other. The intermediate portions may then be filled in with compound hues, passing in regular gradations from one of the simple colours to the next adjoining on either side. Such a * The following observations of Sir John Herschel (extracted from his Report on my paper on Colour Blindness, presented to the Royal Society in 1856) strikingly confirm the views expressed by Herr Hering: — ** It is as necessary to distinguish between our sensations of colour and the qualities of the light producing them, as it is to distinguish between bitterness, Sweetness, sourness, saltness, &c., and the chemical constitution of the several bodies which we call bitter, sweet, &c. Whatever their views of prismatic analysis or composition might suggest to Wcllaston and Young, I cannot persuade myself that either of them recognised the sensation of greenness as a Constituent of the sensations they received in viewing chrome yellow or the petal of a marigold on the one hand, and ultra-marine, or the blue salera, on the other; or that they could fail to recognise a certain redness in the colour of the violet, which Newton appears to have hadin view when he regarded the spectrum asa sort of octave of colour, tracing, in the repetition of redness in the extreme refrangible ray, the commencement of.a higher octave too feeble to affect the sight in its superior tones. Speaking of my own sensations I should say that in fresh grass or the laurel leaf, 1 do not recognise the sensation either of blue or yellow, but something sui generis; while on the other hand I never fail to be sensible of the presence of the red element in either violet or any of the hues to which the name of purple is indiscriminately given ; and my impres-ion in this respect is borne out by the similar testimony of persons, good judges of colour, whom I have questioned on the subject “‘Tt seems impossible to reason on the joint or compound sensation which ought to result from the supra-position in the sensorium of any two or more sensations which we may please to call primary. “* Declaring red and green to be primary sensations, and yellow a mixture of them [is] a proposition which needs only to be understood to be repudiated—quite as decidedly as that the sensation of greenness is a mixture of the sensations of blueness and yellowness, and for the same reason: the complete want of suggestion of the so-called simple sensations by the asserted complex ones. ** From these premises it would seem the easiest possible step to conclude the non-existence of yellow asa primary colour. But this conclusion I am unable to admit in the face of the facts (1) that a yellow ray incapable of prismatic analysis into green and red, may be shown to exist, both in the spectrum and in flames in which soda is present ; and (2) that neither red nor n, as sensations, are in the remotest degree suggested by that yellow in its action on the eye. “*Whether under these circumstances the vision of normal-eyed persons should be termed trichromic or tetrachromic, seems an open question.””— Proceedings of the Royal Seciety, vol. x., 1859-60, p. 72.—W. P. circle, if supposed to be divided into very minute grada- tions, will contain all possible hues of colour. And every hue, both simple and compound, will have, diametrically opposite to it, its natural antagonistic colour*+ Now every possible hue of colour may appear in many different states of ‘‘ purity,” or, as it is often called, “ saturation.” These various states are called by the author “ nuances,” and they are caused by the mixture with the hue in question of various proportions of black and white, z.z., various degrees of the black-white sensation. Thus red may be mixed with black, white, medium gray, light gray, or dark gray, every grade giving a different nuance of the red hue.” The different hues and the different nuances of each taken together will comprise all colour-sensations possible. The pure colour-sensations are unknown to us ; what we experience are always nuances containing white or black. The fact that some colours, and some parts of the spectrum, appear so much brighter than others is due, the author asserts, to the fact of the former containing more white. He conceives that if the pure colour-sensations alone could be experienced they would all be of equal brilliancy, and would probably have the same degree of luminosity as the medium gray; for as each colour-sensation must be considered as an independent one, there is no reason for attributing to any of them the particular effect that we are accustomed to connect with whiteness in particular. The varieties of colour-sensation admit of being ex- pressed ina formula. Varieties of hue may be expressed Blue Red will express all varieties of violet ; the d/ueness Blue Red. Blue + Red, Blue + Red. The nuance of a hue, or its degree of purity, is ex- pressed by the ratio the weight of the pure colour-sensa- tion bears to the whole weight of the a ; thus ue Blue + White + Black’ Thus, suppose a red is mixed with double its weight of medium gray, then there are equal weights of each sensa- tion, and the purity will be by the proportions of each colour they contain ; thus Red oF Blue of it will = and the redness = the purity of a nuance of Blue = I I ES Si I+1+1 3 33 For a compound hue, for example, violet, the purity Blue + Red will be = For example, Blue + Red + Black + White suppose the weight of the blue and red sensations are 4 each, the white 1, and the black 3, forming a dark nuance of violet, the purity = 4+4 a aa oe ee: The author further forms an estimate of the dright- ness or luminosity (Helligkeit) of a nuance by the formula = 0°66. White + $ Colour ’ White + Black + Colour Thus in the former of the above two examples, the luminosity will be ARMS Go shy et) eh pace In the latter ip fa Fale ed 1+3+8 12° Such a circle has been published by Chevreul, but the colours are arranged somewhat differently, the antagonistic ones not being opposite to each other.—W. P. 2 : " 2 In technical language mixtures of a colour with white are called tints ; with black, skades; but this nomenclature is imperfect, according to the author's view, as the various nuances are considered by him to contain black and white together.—W. P. 16 The luminosity of a pure colour will thus be = 3, and if mixed with an equal quantity of white, it will be IT? = 0°75; that of pure white being 1. After these preliminary explanations the author pro- ceeds to develop the chief features of his theory of colour- sensation, adopting the principles previously laid down as applicable to black and white only. He expresses the chief points in two propositions :— 1, There are six fundamental sensations of the visual substance, arranged in three pairs. These are— Black and white. Blue and yellow. Green and red. 2. Each of these pairs corresponds to a dissimilation process and an assimilation process of a special kind, so that the visual substance is subject to chemical change, or change of matter, in a threefold way. The three kinds of change may be either connected or independent; the latter is the simplest supposition, and the author finds it convenient to assume that there are three different components of the visual substance, which he considers as corresponding with the three pairs of sen- sation, and which may, in short, be spoken of as the black- white, the blue-yellow, and the red-green substances respectively. These three substances are not all present in equal quantities ; the black-white one is much more richly pro- vided in the visual organs than either of the others, and the latter are not present in equal amount. As in the black-white substance, both dissimilation and assimilation go on, the former corresponding to the white and the latter to the black sensation ; so the same pro- cesses take place in the two other substances, but with much less activity, whence the weight of the six funda- mental sensations is very unequal ; relatively great in the black and white ; relatively less in the four colours. The author does not venture to pronounce which of a pair of colours corresponds to the D and which to the A action. All rays of the visible spectrum have a dissimilating action on the black-white substance, but the different rays in different degrees. On the blue-yellow or the red-green substance certain rays alone have a D action, certain others an A action, and certain others no action at all. Thus each of the three substances has, so to speak, its own particular sensation-spectrum; and in the actual impression of the spectrum these three overlap or intersect each other. The spectrum of the black-white substance is the brightest in the yellow, and diminishes on both sides. The spectrum of the blue-yellow substance consists of two parts, one yellow and one blue, which are separated by a spot which is lightless for this substance ; this is the place of the pure green. The spectrum of the red-green substance consists of three parts, one green in the middle, and one red at each end, giving two spots which are lightless for this spectrum, z.é., the place of the pure yellowand that of the pure blue. Thus the total spectrum of the visual substance has three distinguished physiological points, where, in addi- tion to the white, only one fundamental colour is visible, viz., yellow, green, or blue. The real red is very small in the spectrum, for the spectral red contains much yellow. The first part of the spectrum from red to pure yellow is thus a mixture of white, red, and yellow; the second, from yellow to green, isa mixture of white, yellow, and green; the third, from green to blue, of white, green, and blue; the fourth, from blue to the end, of white, blue and red. In the pure yellow, green, and blue, only these colours mixed with white are seen. Mixed light appears colourless, when it acts, on the blue-yellow or the red-green substance, with equal D NATURE [ Vov. 6, 1879 and A power, for then both effects neutralise each other» and the action on the black-white substance alone appears. For this reason two objective kinds of light, which, when mixed, give white, are not complementary but antagonistic; they do not produce the white by their combination, but merely destroy each other and leave visible the white which was already there. The excitability (Erregbarkeit) may vary, doubly, on each of the three substances in the same manner as before explained, so that one and the same objective light-mixture may not only appear lighter or darker, but varying in colour according to the proportions present of the six kinds of excitability, giving various conditions (Stimmungen) of the visual organ. Suppose the eye to have been long at rest, so as to be in what has been called the neutral condition (the D and A-actions being equal in regard to all three of the visual substances), the total sensation will comprise the two opposite colour-sensations of each colour-substance, as well as the white and black sensation, but the latter will be much the stronger, and more predominant, as each of the colour-sensations will neutralise its opposite one, zé., the red and green wiil neutralise each other, and so will the yellow and blue. This neutralising effect, however, does not take place in regard to the black-white substance, because the assimilation causing the black sensation is not produced by any direct rays; if there were any solar rays causing A-action in the black-white substance, then solar light might, under certain conditions, be invisible, like an equal mixture of blue and yellow, or red and green. Hence the resulting total sensation, when the eye is at rest, is the mixture of white and black, called neutral gray. Now if, in this condition, we allow the light of any one of the simple spectral colours, say green, to fall on the eye, it strengthens the already present green sensation, and also the white one. The result is a mixed sensation, formed of green, with a considerable mixture of white, and also with some mixture of black, already existing in the neutral gray. Thus it is that even the spectral colours never appear pure, but always obviously contain white and black impurity. Pigmental colours are still more impure, as they reflect mixed light, in which only certain rays are more or less weakened. To the colour-action of those rays which are hereby unneutralised by antagonistic rays, is added not only the action of such rays on the black-white substance, but also the action of the whole remaining neutral-mixed light which only acts on the black-white sensation. Mixed light which gives us a beautiful colour-impression may, if colourless light be added, appear entirely or nearly colourless, because the original colour-sensation is already mixed largely with colourless light. Even the spectral colours quickly lose their force and become pale and whitish, when the vision is steadfastly fixed for a time on one of the dark lines, for the excitability of the colour- substance is quickly lowered, while that of the black-white sensation retains its power. ; In general the conditions are very unfavourable, in ordinary vision, for the powerful production of colour ; for both on the light and_the dark parts the colour-sensations are rendered strongly impure, if not almost entirely sup- pressed by the black-white action. In the darkened eye, in which the latter has less power, the colour-conditions are more favourable, and hence the after-images are often highly coloured. The most favourable conditions are where the black-white substance has been fatigued by dazzling light, and hence the after-images in such cases often show colours almost more powerful than even those of the spectrum, where, in the original objects, scarcely any colour was appreciable. - It must be always borne in mind that every visual sensation, however it may appear, is really a mixture of all the six fundamental sensations. That one of the six, which has relatively the greatest weight, gives the Nov. 6, 1879] NATURE 17 character and name to the mixed sensation. If any one fundamental sensation is so strong in predominance over all the others, that the latter are not distinguishable, it approaches the idea of purity, which, however, in reality can never exist. When the visual organ has been for a long time protected from any external stimulus, it assumes, more or less perfectly, that neutral condition in which the assimilation and dissimilation, as well as the D-excita- bility and the A-excitability are equal for all the three visual substances. In this state, in order that a mixed light should produce a colourless impression, it is necessary that this light should have an approximately equal assimilating and dissimilating moment, by which is meant the product of the stimulus and the excitability. Such mixed light may be called objectively colourless light. But the same light will appear, say, greenish, if the red- green substance is no longer in the neutral condition, but has its green excitability greater than that of the red. For in this case the A and D-moments will not be equal, and a small difference will exist to the advantage of the green. Now when a part of the previously neutrally tuned visual organ has been stimulated by coloured light, the condition of this part will become so altered that the excitability for the perceived colour diminishes and becomes less than the excitability for the opposite colour. Under these circumstances any mixed light which, in the neutral condition appeared colourless, will now appear coloured with the opposite colour. And if a part of the visual organ has been affected, say, by the action of green light, on looking at a blue or yellow surface, the blue or yellow will appear tinged with red. The phenomena of simultaneous colour-contrast and of colour-induction are explained in the same manner as for the corresponding phenomena in black and white. It has been seen that by the white illumination of any part of the visual organ, the other parts of it, and particu- larly those adjoining, are, by the indirect action of the stimulus, darkened; or the sensation of black is intensi- fied; and ina similar way, under the action of coloured light on any part, the sensation of the opposite colour is strengthened in the adjoining parts. As a consequence of this the relations of excitability are altered ; for, according to this theory the sensation of any colour implies also a change of those relations to the disadvantage of this colour and to the advantage of its opposite, If, then, light be allowed to fall on the whole retina, which, under a neutral condition, would be colour- less, it now appears coloured; the colour on the pre- viously excited part will be the opposite colour (successive contrast), while that around it will be the same colour as that previously observed (successive induction). In fact, all the phenomena explained for white and black may be, in this way, transferred to the colour-sensation. The author makes some further remarks on the Young- Helmholtz theory. He admits that the attempt of Young to reduce the great variety of colour-sensations to a small number of physiological variables was a most important step in advance, but he considers that if, as before ex- plained, every psychical result must correspond to some physiological process, the number of fundamental colour- sensations ought, as has been often urged, to be increased to four, and that separate physiological sensations ought to be allotted to white and black. But he considers the great defect of the theory to lie in its only acknowledging one kind of excitability, excitation, and fatigue, namely, that which he denotes by D, and that it ignores entirely the antagonistic relations of certain rays to the visual organ; hence it regards the production of white out of “complementary colours’’ as a result of their mutual combinations, and not of their mutual extinction. He also remarks on the difficulties of explanation of many phenomena, on this theory, and in particular on the inconsistencies it causes in the attempted explanation of colour-blindness, as shown in the most modern literature on the subject. In conclusion he gives some remarks on the chief points of his theory, which it may be instructive to repeat here. The theory, although immediately dictated by a free and unbiased analysis of the visual sensations, is essen-- tially based on certain fundamental principles, taken from the acknowledged phenomena of organic and psychical. life, and it is by these principles that the author’s views are brought into connection with the doctrines of physio- logy generally. With respect to the doctrine of light and colour, the first thing to mention is the natural system of visual sen- sations, founded on their internal similarity ; and further, the grouping of the six fundamental sensations in three pairs of opposite colours. Next comes, as of fundamental importance, the appre- ciation of the visual sensations as the psychical correlatives of the nutritive processes, or changes of matter in the visual substance, which leads to the separation of the: D and A sensations, and further, to the principle that every D sensation implies a decrease, every A sensation an increase of the visual substance. Corresponding to the three pairs of simple or fundamental sensations are assumed three kinds of D and A processes in the visual substance and three kinds of specific D and A excita- bility. The colourlessness of mixed light formed out of “complementary ’’ rays, is explained by their antagonistic: relations. Further, here, for the first time the proof is methodi- cally and comprehensively produced that the separate parts of the nervous visual substance are in internal. functional changingrelationship( Wechselbeziehung), which is to be regarded as reciprocally connected with the change of matter; for when i is greater on a stimulated part, it is less in the surrounding parts, and vice versé ; so that after the stimulus the excitabilities of both parts change in opposite directions, These propositions ahd their consequences afford the means of explaining the various phenomena mentioned, but it often happens that several explanations are possible for one and the same phenomenon, and that the decision between them must be reserved for more detailed inquiry. What we immediately appreciate in a visual sensation is the ratio of the corresponding D and A processes to each other, for this determines the gwadity of the sensation, A change of sensation gives only an indication of the change of this ratio, and not of the changes of its two com- ponents. Then it is that we have so often the choice between an increase of assimilation and a stoppage or’ decrease of dissimilation, and vice versd. But the theory itself gives means of determining these, by further and more detailed and intricate investigations; and the author promises future communications by which the details will further be supplied, withcut as he hopes, any material alteration of the principles he has laid down, WILLIAM POLE THE “PARASOL” ANTS OF TEXAS: HOW THEY CUT AND CARRY LEAVES: ORIGIN OF CASTES BY EVOLUTION N Mr. McCook’s recent investigation (NATURE, vol. xx. - p. 583, ana Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phil., 1879, Pp. 35) he stated that he observed carefully both the mode of ‘ cutting and the system of carrying cut portions of oak- leaves at Camp Wright, and at a vegetable garden near Austin, Texas. y P To investigate successfully he found it best to thrust 18° NATURE [Nov. 6, 1879 small branches of live-oak into one of the mounds de- scribed, near the “ gates.” These were soon withdrawn, and seen to be covered with “‘cutters” busily occupied. It was thus possible to examine them at work by the light of a lantern, as it will doubtless be remembered that night is the busiest time with these active ants, supplying their minuteness with a most effective shelter. The “cutter,” usually an ant belonging to the caste next below the “soldier” in size, first grasps the leaf with outspread feet, and begins to cut into its edge by a scissors-like action of her sickle-shaped toothed man- dibles. Thus she naturally proceeds, with steady motion, until the mandibles have clipped off a portion of the leaf, having a circular edge, clean cut. The feet turn as the head turns. The cutter sometimes drops, with the piece just cut, to the ground ; but probably, if possible, retires when the piece has dropped, to continue her professional occupation. Mr. McCook found at the foot of one tree a pile of cut leaves, to which clippings were continually being added, dropped by the cutters. The carrier at the foot took them up and carried them to the nest. The loading of the cuttings is thus accomplished : the piece is seized by the curved mandibles, the head is raised, the piece is thrown back by a quick motion, seeming to be lodged on its edge within the deep furrow that runs along the entire median line of the head with the exception of the clypeus, and supported between prominent spines on the edge of this furrow and on the prothorax, The young saplings near the mound at Camp Wright were found almost entirely stripped of leaves by these ants. The great tree (live-oak) near by was in parts stripped to the very top. In beginning work on a tree the cutters seem to aim first at the topmost leaves. They prefer trees with a smooth leaf ; they eat grapes, radishes, &c., and can take celery, beet, young maize, and wheat, plum leaves, honeysuckle, and jessamine. Strangely enough, they do not like lettuce, paper-mulberry, figs, cedar, except the buds, when very hard up in winter. A nurseryman, on whose grounds Mr. McCook witnessed the'ants at work and the scene of their former exploits, told him that they even entered his desk-drawers, and carried away part of his chewing-tobacco, At another plantation Mr. McCook saw an immense column of the ants engaged in plundering a granary of wheat. One of the most interesting questions for evolutionists centres undoubtedly in the causes and mode of continu- ance of the castes or differentiated forms of species like this ant. The worker-castes are sterile, and produced from eggs laid at different periods by the female; and as to a blending of castes by intermediate forms, nothing has yet been seen or proved in the case of the cutting-ant, after careful examination by the microscope. The lowest castes of minims, in all individuals Mr. McCook examined, with special reference to the mouth-organs and eyes, had the same structure in equal definiteness and perfection, as the larger castes. Consequently, Mr. McCook again finds no way of comprehending how natural selection could have produced or preserved or improved these castes. May I suggest that we know as yet too little of the whole life-history of social animal communities, to say nothing of their past history in time, their conditions during long series of years, and the reaction of each community on its surroundings, to assert that any hypo- thesis of evolution admissible as a vera causa in one case is inadmissible in another? We are but on the threshold of the study of the influence of social laws and conditions upon human communities ; how can we expect to under- stand the influence of society and common interests upon specialisation in ants? Yet there are even now several possible ways of imagining the influence of variation and changed conditions to have aided in producing castes. May it not be that the comparative study of ant-com- munities of the same species, or of different species of the same genus will at length furnish a key much more valu- able than we yet know? How is it that nations of man rise and fall, increase or decrease? Are not all men of one species? Why are there so many castes? If we cannot answer these questions perfectly, why be dismayed if we quarrel about terms as to the intelligence or reason displayed by various animal forms? There is nothing to be done but for men to wait, study to comprehend the nature of proof, and then patiently investigate. The explanation of all difficult problems will, if we are to judge by the history of science, be very simple, much simpler and more illuminating than the acrobatic or the prejudiced intellects would have us believe. G. T. BETTANY NOTES THE exhibition at Croydon, held in connection with the Con- gress of the Sanitary Institute of Great Britain, has a peculiarity attached to it which, though it has its advantages, is a disadyan- tage to the visitor. The peculiarity is that the awards of the judges will not be made known till the day of closing, viz., November 8. At most exhibitions visitors have their attention drawn to objects of high merit by the announcements of the honours the judges have awarded ; but here, and this, too, on subjects often affecting their own health, visitors can, even if they care to take that trouble, only form their own opinions, guided by the skilled advocacy of the attendants at the different stalls. If all the objects announced in the catalogue as ‘‘essential,” ‘‘indispensable,” ‘‘infallibly safe,” and ‘‘the only ones of the kind made,” are really so, then the practical application of sanitary science in households is in a lamentably backward — state, even in particulars where those who are our leaders in sanitation would least expect it. It can hardly be sup- posed, however, that all the exhibits shown have been ad- mitted with the sanction of the Council as_ illustrations of the subjects discussed at the Institute. There are, for example, mus c stands, clocks, sausage mincers, billiard registers, weighing machines, mechanical toys, flower scissors, electric pens, nickel-plated goods, pantographs, bells, telephones, china cements, ‘‘lightning” knife sharpeners, &c. Some of the exhibits are made on principles that have been repeatedly denounced; for example, filters so closed that the filtering medium cannot be easily and frequently changed are now by our most experienced observers admitted to be unsafe, yet there are some in the exhibition. Traps of certain construction have been likewise denounced, yet they are shown. Ventilators of patterns generally regarded as practically useless, and so-called disin- fectants which are only deodorisers, are shown. It might, perhaps, have been well had the exhibition been called one of ‘* Sanitary and unsanitary appliances,” and then the visitor would have been put on his guard not to believe in everything shown there. Mr. F, P. W. Essie, C.E., has contributed part of a col- Jection of the materials on which his paper on the dangers of bad plumbing (read at the Congress) was based, It is intended as an unsanitary exhibition, and shows in an alarming manner how some so-called sanitary appliances may become a positive source of danger. Each specimen exhibited ‘‘ has been associated with death and with diraster in some shape or other.” It is a pity no handbook or any kind of guide other than the unclassified list of entries in the catalogue has been prepared. We may be able to return to the subject next week when noticing the list of awards. AN article in the last number of the Revue Scientifique con- tains an interesting account of Mont Ventoux (1,928 metres high), and of the scheme for eresting a meteorological observa- tory thereon. The project, which has been prepared by M. Morard, under the direction of M. Bouvier, includes, first, the construction of a carriage-road, which will render the summit accessible at all times, The total length will be 19 kilometres. Nov. 6, 1879] NATURE 19 nr The observatory will be placed at the very summit of the moun- tain, ona platform of rock. It will consist of a small round tower, constructed to resist the most violent winds. Every means will be taken to establish an equilibrium of temperature between the inside of the tower and the outer air. The dwelling- house will be built a little lower, on the south slope, and thus sheltered from the mistral which is extremely violent on the summit of the mountain, and indeed has given to the mountain its name of Ventoux. A covered gallery of 11 metres will con- nect the house with the tower, access to which will thus be easy, even in the midst of snow and storms. At the instance of Admiral Mouchez rooms will be reserved in this house for scientific men, who may come in summer to carry on researches in astronomical physics, for which the limpidity of a Provencal sky is so favourable. The difficulties of execution would not appear to be very great, and, in comparing the situation of the future observatory with that of the Pic du Midi, General Nansouty has gone so far as to compare the summit of Ventoux to a sort of earthly paradise. The necessary expenses are calcu- lated at 150,000 francs, and to this all the chief towns of the South-East have already contributed handsomely, their municipal councils having the intelligence to perceive the great practical benefit to be derived from such an observatory. THE project of erecting a meteorological observatory on the top of the Ballon de Gervance, in the department of Haute- Saone, is progressing favourably, A fortress is being built on this elevated site, and will be finished next year. The garrison will very probably have the care of meteorological observat ons. A telegraphic line has been already established between the intended station and Belfort. M. BiscHorsHEIM is leaving for Nice with M. Garnier, the architect of the opera, and M. Loewy, the sub-director of the Paris Observatory, in order to inspect the site on which he intends to erect the new observatory, on which he is to spend a sum of 60,000/., as we mentioned in our notessome months ago. Before determining on the details of his plan, M. Bischofsheim and his scientific and artistic advisers are to visit the most celebrated observatories of Austria, Germany, and England during this winter, Kine HuMBert, of Italy has sent a donation of 20/. toa committee organised to obtain subscriptions for erecting a statue to Galvani at Bologna. Galvani was born in that city in 1717, where he was a professor in the University ; he died in 1798. THE Fournal Ofciel publishes a decree organising, at the Observatory of Paris, the School of Astronomy of which we announced, a few months ago, the imminent creation, The pupils are to be appointed by the Minister of Public Instruction rom pupils of the Normal or Polytechnic Schools, or graduates in the mathematical sciences. They must be more than twenty- five years of age. They are to receive 6/. a month during two years, and reside in the observatory. They will be obliged to follow courses of lectures at the Sorbonne and Collége de France. The Astronomers of the Observatory will give them special in- struction. After having passed their examination, they will be appointed aides-astronomes in any of the Government observa- tories, with a salary of 107, monthly. During their stay at the observatory they will practise calculations, meridian, and physi- cal astronomical observations, .Z/éves libres will be admitted under a certificate of efficiency. . Mr. C, L. Wracce, F.R.G.S., of Cheadle, has presented to the town of Stafford an excellent collection of specimens obtained by him in his travels in various parts of the world, and which will, no doubt, prove of great value to all those interested in geology and natural history, -In- the Cassel State Library, as well as in the Archives at Hanover, Dr. Geiland has succeeded in discovering 2 whole series of important original letters, hitherto not known, from the pen of Leibnitz, the philosopher, and of Papin, one of the inventors of practical applications of the power of steam. RUSSIAN papers publish the project of the Exhibition of Manufactures and Fine Arts, which will be opened in 1881 at Moscow. We learn that the Moscow Anthropological Society and the University propose to take an active part in it, and to give to the exhibition a scientific value. WE learn that in the month of January, 1880, an artistic and scientific exhibition will be opened in Algiers. It will be the first which has been ever held in the colony. THE Society of Anthropology of Paris has received, at its last meeting, a letter from Felyx-Denys-Rapontayabo, a native King, in the Gaboon, who, having been educated in the Catholic mission, is a tolerably good French scholar. His Negro Majesty is sending to the Anthropological Society the skeleton of a gorilla, and volunteers to send any scientific docu- ments which may be required. IN ‘his last report from Saigon, Mr. Consul Tremlett alludes to his having been ordered by the Foreign Office to procure and send home a quantity of the bark known as /wang-nao, which during the past four or five years has been exported from Tongking to Trinidad, and there seems to have proved efficacious in cases of leprosy. The tree from which it is obtained is hardly known except to the missionaries, and is only found in the mountain forests of the north of Annan. A vioLenr shock of earthquake is reported to have occurred ij West Cumberland at 5.30 A.M. on Saturday week. A vivid flash of lightning was seen at the same time. The shocks of earthquake in the southern districts of Hungary, some lasting from forty to fifty seconds, continue in a north-easterly direction, and keep the population in a state of alarm. A shock of earthquake in the direction from south-west to north-east, was felt at Ekaterinodar, Caucasus, on October 9, at Sh. 55m. P.M. THE Municipal Council of Paris has decided that artificial cold should be applied to the mortuary, in order to keep corpses ina state fit for public inspection and possible recognition for a longer period. In compliance with that decision a Commission, pre- sided over by M. Vauthier, an engineer of the Ponts-et-Chaussées, who resided long in England, has been appointed to report upon the several ice-manufacturing machines. The work of the Commissioner is by no means an easy one, The pneumatic process is not, so far as we are informed, to be brought into the competition. The ammoniac, the chloride of methyl, and the sulphurous acid processes are then to be brought under con- sideration. ‘The two last methods are now exhibiting at the Champs Elysées Palace, and the ammoniac process is used in the largest Parisian ice-house, the “ Glacitre du Bois de Boulogne.” A RETURN by the Director of Administrative Statisties at Vienna (based on the latest census of the great European states) shows that out of 102,831 persons who lived over ninety years, 42,528 were men and 60,303 women. The longevity of women is yet more apparent when we consider the numbers of human beings who attain and live beyond 100 years. In Austria, there were 229 women centenarians to 183 male ditto ; in Italy, 241 female to 141 male; in Hungary, 526 female to 524 male, &c. In a recent Consular Report on the trade and commerce of Benguzi the sponge fishery is described as being entirely in the hands of Greeks belonging to Kalimnos, Hydra, and other islands, who annually frequent the coast of the Gulf of Sidra during the months of August and September. This branch of 20 NATURE [WVov. 6, 1879 industry affords employment to upwards of 200 small vessels. A diving apparatus is used in fishing for sponges; the produce during the season is between 25,000 and 35,000 sponges, A duty of 40/7. is levied by Government on each diving apparatus and 10/, on every vessel not carrying that appliance. The pro- duce of the sponge fishery last year was estimated to be worth about 15,000/., and was exported chiefly to England. Messrs. FRANCIS AND Co., of Hatton Garden, have recently devised an extremely useful telegraphic arrangement for ships, by which instant communication is given by the captain or officer of the watch to the helmsman, For the navigation of rivers and small waters such means of rapid telegraphing with the man at the helm must be invaluable, as in an instant an order can be given, and that, too, with absolute certainty. A leading and important feature in this new invention is that the signals to every part of the ship can be given from the one instrument, which is in form like a handsome capstan, with the commutators so arranged horizontally around its head that it may he worked by any one without the least instruction. A course of elementary lectures in continuation of a descrip- tion of the solar system will be delivered in the theatre of Gresham College, Basinghall Street, London, E.C., on the evenings of November 11, 12, 13, and 14, by the Rey. E. Ledger, M.A., F.R.A.S., Gresham Professor of Astronomy. The lectures will be delivered at 6 o’clock P.M., and will be free to the public, They will be illustrated by means of a lime light. As we have announced, the three Parisian telephonic companies have entered into a working arrangement, and are busy settling the details. In consequence of this fusion the subscriptions have ceased to be received, the future common price having not yet been agreed ‘upon, It is certain that it will be dearer than the cheapest, and cheaper than the dearest. According to every probability 600 francs a year fora single line. THE gold discoveries in the north of New Caledonia are reported to be turning out very valuable. From Japan we hear that the manufacture of sulphuric acid is now being extensively carried on at the Osaka Mint, and large quantities are exported to China, THREE boa-constrictors, found in the Chinese island of Hainan, have lately been presented to the Botanical Gardens at Hong Kong. WE learn from a report on the trade and navigation of New York for 1878 that grape-sugar is being largely manufactured at Buffalo, three large factories have been established for the manu- facture of glucose in a solid and liquid form, 200,000 to 300,000 bushels of corn being used in them per month. This product has a ready sale and is largely exported to Europe and other countries, and the business is said to be a very profitable one, THE principal papers in the Thirteenth Annual Report of the Aéronautical Society are on the Flight of Birds, by Mr. Brearey and Mr. H, Sutton, THE report of the meeting of October 17 of the Eastbourne Natural History Society contains a paper ‘‘ On the Additions to the Fauna and Flora of the Cockmere District during the past year,” by Mr, F. C. S. Roper. THE additions to the Zoological Society’s Gardens during the past week include a Weeper Capuchin (Cebus capucinus) from South America, presented by Mr, A. Sargent ; a Silver Pheasant (Zuplocamus nycthemerus) from China, presented by Mr, R, Moon; three Common Boas (Bea constrictor) from Bahia, pre- sented by Mr, W. Young; a Bosman’s Potto (Perodicticus potto) from West Africa, four Pied Wagtails (Motacilla yarrellii), British, purchased. OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN MINoR PLANETS IN 1880.—In the fitst half of the ensuing year three out of the four older minor planets, viz, Ceres, Pallas, and Vesta will come into opposition while not far from peri- helion, and consequently their angular diameters and brightness will be about as great as they ever can be, thus :— ( fallas in opposition on Jan, 12 will be in perihelion on Feb. 23.. Ceres re a Feb, 12 & a5 Feb, 18. Vesta as "5 June 2 oF 4 June 19. At opposition the brightness of Fal/as will be 6°8m., that of Ceres 7°3m., and that of Vesta 6'om. Perhaps advantage may be taken of the favourable conditions attaching to the positions of these planets to ascertain if they do really present measurable disks as has been stated by Lamont in the case of Pallas, and by Secchi in that of Vesta. Lamont, soon after the mounting of the 11-inch refractor at Munich, on a night of exceptional clearness, found that Pad//as presented a defined disk, which at the mean distance of the planet from the sun would subtend an angle of 0°51, which would correspond to 1’*41 at the distance unity. Again, Secchi observing on nights near the opposition of Ves‘a in 1855, noted a disk a little less than is presented by Jupiter's first satellite, or about 0”*8, which at the earth’s mean distance from the sun would subtend 1” or, There is a third instance in the case of one of the more- recently discovered planets, /yzs, which at the close opposi- tion in the winter of 1866, was measured by Mr. Talmage with Mr. J. G. Barclay’s 10-inch refractor at Leyton ; he found the apparent diameter o”'96, or the diameter at distance unity 0°89, Hence we should have for the real diameters 630 miles for Pallas, 450 miles for Vesta, and 400 miles for Js, dimensions beyond those which have been attributed to them on other grounds. The south declinations of Pa//as and Vesta will render them fitting objects for examination at Melbourne should Mr. Ellery be disposed to try the powers of his great reflector upon them. Ceres will be well observable in this hemisphere. While writing upon minor planets it may be mentioned that their number has now been increased to 207; a circular from Prof. Peters, of Kiel, notifying the discovery of four new ones at Clinton (New York) and at Pola, by Prof. C. H. F. Peters and Herr Palisa. THE RED Spor upon JuPITER.—Dr. O. Lohse, of the Physical Observatory at Potsdam, who has watched this planet regularly during the last nine years, mentions that on June 5, when his observations of the present year commenced, the red spot was of an intensity of colour to be perceived at the first glance at 15h. m.t., when it was near the eastern limb. The sharp out- line and the form of the spot appearing to offer an advantageous opportunity for another determination of the time of rotation, numerous estimations and some measures of its position and size have been made at Potsdam, Dr, Lohse does not refer to any suspicion of proper motion, of which we have heard elsewhere, but, on the contrary, states that, with the rotation- period, 9°922th., added on to the epoch 1879, September 27, at gh. 48°3m., Berlin M.T, (or 8h. 54°7m. G.M.T.), the successive times of transit of the middle of the spot over the central meridian may be obtained. From sensible variation in the in- tensity and tint near the centre and limbs of {the planet he con- jectures the superposition of very dense gas or vapour. As the spot exhibits remarkable permanence, it may be also observable next year, and thus be the means of fixing the period of rota- tion with precision. Dr, Lohse further notes that this remarkable appearance upon the disk of Jupiter takes place at the time of recommencement of activity in the solar atmosphere. v A STANDARD CLOCK AT THE OBSERVATORY, STRASSBURG.— Those who give attention to horological matters will note with interest a communication from Prof. Winnecke, Director of the Imperial Observatory at Strassburg, on the performance of a clock constructed for that establishment by Hohwii, of Amster- dam, The observed rates between 1875 and 1878 are exhibited in tabular form, and are compared with rates calculated from a formula which Dr. Schur has investigated, viz. :— Ss. s. s. Daily rate = 0°000 + 0°0125 (6 — 750) — O'O110 (¢ — 20), where @ is the height of the barometer in millimetres and ¢ the temperature in the clock-case expressed in degrees of Celsius. The tabular statement (4st, Wach., No. 2,282) is much too long to be reproduced here, but we make the following extract show- ing the observed and computed rates applying to the two-months’ ee Nov. 6, 1879 | NATURE : 21 ua —— —_ _ —_ —hL_a ees interval, May 3-July 3, 1877; in the first column are the daily rates given by the observations, and in the second those resulting from the above formula :— s s MBY RSE ec. sas cee) vee — OOF - 0°02 LS US MS eusiee Se 0°00 + o’ol 25-5" Cs — 0704 -— 0°04 May 31-June 8 + 0°03 + 0°06 MNES STy) MM | ce OOF + ovol DLS cat) tad cocoa Ct + 0°23 19-22 «Weed lara OLDS — 0°09 RZA2GE RENE Tce, + o°1o + Ov! 26-29 is + 0°09 + 0°05 June 29-July 30 use tee wee 0°05 - 0°04 Dr. Winnecke remarks that upon the experience in the interval 1875-78 he believes the performance of the clock has not been hitherto excelled, and congratulates himself upon the possession of a work of art. ——_— PHYSICAL NOTES Wnuo did discover the attraction caused by the vibrations of sounding bodies? Prof. Guthrie and Herr Schellbach of Berlin, discovered it independently of each other nearly ten years ago. But Guyot had observed the phenomenon before them; and in a paper in the Philosophical Magazine for 1849, by Mr. Reuben Phillips, on the ‘‘Electricity of Steam,” the attraction caused by vibration is recorded as a new fact. THE transverse vibrations of metallic cylinders open at one end have been recently studied by Herr Fenkner, at Marburg (Wied. Ann., No. 9). The following results were arrived at: The vibration-numbers of the tones of such cylinders are irde- pendent of the height of the cylinder, The vibration-numbers of the corresponding tones of two such cylinders are inversely as the squares of the circumferences (or radii), and they are directly as the thicknesses of metal. Pror. TOpLeER, of Dresden, is well known to physicists by his researches on singing flames and by the induction electric machine which bears his name. Tdépler’s machine, of which several examples were shown in the Loan Collection at South Kensington in 1876, resembles in form the more familiar machine of Holtz, and is based upon similar principles, Prof. Topler is at present engaged upon the construction of a larger machine having twenty rotating plates ; and which is capable of gene- rating much larger quantities of electricity. This machine bears a close resemblance to the variety of Holtz machine shown before the Physical Society a few months ago by Mr, W. J. Wilson, and to that recently constructed by Mr. Ladd, which also kad a number of plates rotating on a common axis, APPARATUS for projection, like the magic-lantern, always gives inverted images. Most commonly this causes no inconvenience, for one can invert the object ; but there are cases in which this cannot be done, and the only resource is to rectify the image. To obtain this result, M. Duboseq (Journal de Physique, Octo- ber) has recently conceived the idea of receiving the rays which would go to form the inverted image on a prism with total reflec- tion. Suppose an isosceles rectangular prism, placed with hypo- thenuse parallel to the optic axis of the lens by which the rays from the object are made convergent, and so as to receive the cone of rays on one side ; refracted in the prism, the rays reach the hypothenuse at an angle greater than the limiting angle, are totally reflected, and sent to the second side of the prism, where they are refracted at the same angle as on entrance, and then go to the screen, forming an image which corresponds in position to the object. As it may be desired to rectify the image in some other plane than the vertical, it is found advantageous to mount the prism ina tube forming part of the projection-apparatus, and capable of being turned round the direction of the ray. IN a recent memoir on the plasticity of solid substances (Rev. Scient. xi. 1879), Signor Marangoni, with reference to Bottomley’s experiment dividing ice with a wire, groups plastic substances in two classes. Those of the first class can be cut in two with a metallic wire like ice, and they can also be consider- ably deformed. Such are plastic clay, fresh soap, camphor, black pitch. Substances of the second group give two lamellz on the two sides of the cutting wire, which then come out of the slit, become notched and bend over, resembling leaves; to this class belong vegetable Japanese wax, dry Marseilles soap, tallow and stearine, but above all, yellow wax and paraffin, ,The occurrence of these phenomena depends largely on the diameter of the wire and on the temperature. For yellow wax, wires of 4 to 1mm. diameter, for paraffin 4 to o°9 mm, are necessary. With the former, the leaves are formed between — 8° and 40°, with paraffin (melting at 43°5°) only up to 15°. To produce the lamella, different weights should be hung to the wire in different cases. The lamellz are very similar to those separated from rails when a locomotive with strong brake applied, goes quickly down a steep incline, THE forms produced in the phonograph by utterance of the Italian alphabet are studied in a recent paper by Signor Fautrier (Atti del Aten. Ven. [3], I., 1879). The vowels uttered in the A note of the violin (435 vibrations) gave generally three-pointed groups, presenting certain differences. With regard to the con- sonants, it appeared that with the exception of /, m, m, and 7, which give characteristic impressions, they only modify the form of the impression of the following vowel, and especially at its limits. Signor Fautrier adds some general considerations, espe- cially on the intensity of the ‘‘klangs ” given by the phonograph, and the theoretical significance of the apparatus. M. GAston PLANTS, whose researches on voltaic electricity, especially on the construction of secondary batteries and on the phenomena of their discharge have been from time to time laid before the readers of NATURE, has just published the first instal- ment towards a second volume. The forty pages or so of this brochure treat of the effects obtained with M. Planté’s rheostatic machine, Dr. K6n1c, the well-known constructor of acoustical appa- ratus has just completed a new instrument which promises to be of great interest and importance. Dr. Konig has long main- tained, in opposition to the theory of Helmholtz, that the ‘‘combinational” or ‘‘ difference” tones produced by the simul- taneous sounding of two simple tones of different pitch are the result of very rapid ‘‘ beats.” The new instrument, which has not yet been seen outside M. Kénig’s a¢d/er, isa kind of modified syren which puts the question at issue to a direct and crucial test. WE learn that Prof. Silvanus Thompson is engaged upon a monograph upon the subject of Binaural Audition, which will embrace the whole existing literature of the subject. The work will not be published before next spring. THE magnets employed in Gower’s form of the Bell telephone are of unusual strength. It is stated that the {steel of which these magnets are constructed is made from the iron of Alvarre, which, though a particularly bad iron for most purposes, makes a steel unsurpassed for magnetic apparatus. Tue phenomena which occur when the retina is struck by intermittent coloured light (alternating with total darkness) have been recently studied by Signor Cintolesi (Amn. di Oftalmol., II. and III., 1879). With a certain velocity of intermissions the field of vision appeared at first still and regular in the colour of the active light. The state is gradually changed, and, eg., red passes by orange, yellow, and green, into a saturated blue-green, after which there is a return by the same colours to red, and so on in periodic change. This phenomenon of a periodic change with the complementary colour the author also describes in the cases of green and blue. The velocity of intermissions must reach o'1I sec. for red, 0°14 for green, and 0°15 for blue light. In his theoretical views Signor Cintolesi has recourse partly to the Young-Helmholtz hypothesis, partly to Plateau’s oscillation theory, and partly also to the photo-chemical properties of the retina. Ir has been noted recently by M. Jannetaz that, if a fine needle be turned round on a cleavage plate of gypsum (I mm. to 2 mm, thick) so as to produce a small hole, and then be gently pressed into the plate, a separation occurs, surrounded by New- ton’s colour-rings, and having the formof anellipse. The major axis of this ellipse makes an angle of 49° with the fibrous frac- ture, and its length is to that of the minor axis as 1°247 to I. This ellipse has the same orientation and relative size as that of the propagation of heat in gypsum. Further, the larger axis corresponds with the direction of greatest resistance to bending, and the greatest elasticity. : : Eprson’s new electromotor, with which he proposes to drive sewing-machines, watchmakers’ lathes, and other light machi- nery, has an armature resembling that of a Siemens dynamo- electric generator, but placed longitudinally between the -limbs 22 NATURE [Nov. 6, 1879 of a horse-shoe-shaped electro-magnet. A similar disposition was previously employed by M. Marcel Deprez in the excellent little electromotors shown by him before the French Physical Society last year. In the latest pattern of telephone transmitter sent by Mr. Edison to this country, the button of compressed carbon derived from paraffin-smoke has been abandoned in favour of another device. A small rod of ordinary hard carbon, of the quality used in producing the electric light, is mounted behind a mica disk and adjusted in loose contact with a light spring faced with platinum. This arrangement is therefore nothing more or less than a microphone attached to the back of a disk which receives the vibrations of the voice. AT a late meeting of the Académie des Sciences, M. Wardon made a suggestion to substitute nickel for steel as a material for compass needles. M. Wardon adopts a circlet of the metal of a form similar to that devised by M. Duchemin. When the appa- ratus was submitted under the direction of the Ministére de la Marine to a comparative trial with that of M. Duchemin, it was found to be decidedly inferior for nautical purposes ; for the oscillations of the magnetised circlet are extremely slow, owing to the comparatively feeble intensity of magnetisation of nickel. GEOGRAPHICAL NOTES AT the last meeting, October 15, of the Russian Geographical Society, the Secretary, M. Sreznevsky, read a detailed report on the geographical work done during the past summer. After having spoken of the gallant geographical feat of Prof. Norden- skjold, he sketched the results of the expeditions of Col. Prshevalsky, MM. Potanin, Alferaki, and Pyevtsoff, and of the expedition engaged in exploring for the Central Asian Railway. As to ethnography and statistics, the secretary mentions the re- searches by M. Kuznetsoffin Western Russia, by M. Syrkou in Bul- garia, the anthropological researches of M. Meredlenovsky in the Crimea, M. Polyakoff in the Ura] Mountains and Caucasus, M. Kibalchich' on the banks of the Dnieper, and M, Miclucho- Maclay in Australia," As to this last, the Society engaged him to return to Europe, for the publication of the very rich results of his explorations, but he prefered to take part in a zoological exploration undertaken by Australian naturalists. The pecuniary position of M. Maclay is a very criticalone. After having under- taken his extensive travels without sufficient means, he has received from the Society about 7,000 roubles, which sum was certainly quite insufficient to meet the great expenses neces- sitated by these travels, Now he has contracted debts for about 15,000 roubles at the Singapore bankers, and the Society seeks private. subscriptions, the:means for paying these debts, in which it is supported by the opinion of the whole of the Russian press. Finally Prof. R. Lentz made a communication on the labours of the International Conference in the Meteorology of the Polar regions, The Geographical Society will take an active part in the organization of the meteorological stations in these regions. THE Moscowshiya Vyedomosti has received the following in- formation as to the Amu-darya expedition, dated Katty-kourgan, October 19. At Termez the expedition was divided into two parts: one has gone in boats down the Amu to Fort Petro- Alexandrovsk, the other through Surkhan and Rafiuaghan rivers to the Vaksh river. The results of the expedition are important: it has explored the Amu-Darya throughout its length, and its two branches, the Vaksh and the Pyandj rivers, for fifty miles above their junction. ‘The topographers have prepared maps of these parts of the two rivers, and completed the maps of the Amu by several details ; several latitudes and longitudes are determined astronomically, and zoological collections obtained. A levelling of the Amu is made up to Chardjuy. We notice the appear- ance of a Russian work by M. Lokhtin, ‘‘ The Amu-Darya River and its former Connection with the Caspian.” It contains a description of the river, a sketch of the historical data as to the "Amu, anda review of the hypotheses as to the causes of the changes of its bed; it is accompanied by a map. The third, fourth, and fifth volumes of the ‘‘ Report of the Amu-Darya Expedition,” contain reports by M. Zuboff on hydrographical works in the lower parts of the Amu-Daria; by M. Dorandt, on the astronomical, magnetical, and hydrometrical measure- ments ; and by Prof, Schmidt, on the slime of the Amu River. Tue death, from paralysis, in India, is announced, of Major Herbert Wood, author of a well-known work on the Aralo- Caspian Region, on the hydrography of which he contributed several papers to this journal, THE last number of the Zsvestia of the Russian Geographical Society, contains the proceedings of a meeting of the Society in October, 1878, and several interesting papers:—By M. Prshevalsky, on the observations of Dr. Richthofen; by K. Scharnhorst, on the barometric measurements of heights in Central Asia; by M. Mayeff, on the upper parts of the Amu- Darya, according to the description of Ibn-Dast; and by M. Miclucho-Maclay, on the Agomes Islands. The notes contain information as to the travels of MM. Prshevalsky, Nordenskjold, and Grigorieff, Inthe note by Colonel Scharnhorst, on the baro- metrical measurements of heights made by M. Prshevalsky during his journey to Lake Lob-Nor, the measurements being calculated by comparison with barometrical observations at Nukus and at Omsk, the heights of which above the sea-level are exactly known from geodetical measurements, they are trust- worthy, and the error does not exceed 100 feet. The height of Tashkend, calculated by comparison of six years’ barometrtcal observations with those made at Omsk, Kazalinsk, Nukns, Petro- alexandrovsk, Baku, and Astrakhan, is 1,516 feet. The other places of general interest are: Kuldja, 2,080 feet; the passes across the Narat and Yuldus Mountains, 10,370 feet and 10,040 feet ; the junction of Khabtragay and Baltangay Rivers, 5,320 feet; the town of Kurl, 3,240 feet ; Lake Lob-Nor, 2,500 feet ; Lake Sayram, 6,920 feet ; and Guchen, town, 2,310 feet. WE are glad to notice the appearance of an ‘‘ Annuaire for Turkestan” (Zurkestanskiy Kalendar) for 1880, which contains much useful information as to the mineral riches of the country, its meteorology, financial situation, and statistics, besides a route- map and a map of the general-governorship of Turkestan. We learn from this Annuaire that Turkestan possessed in 1877 only thirty-five schools, with 1,848 scholars, Tux November number of the Geographical Society’s periodical contains three short papers: Notes on the Topography of the Sierra Nevada of Santa Marta, U.S. of Columbia, by Mr, F. A. A. Simons ; Exploration of Oregon in 1878 by the Wheeler Survey ; and Pévtsof’s Expedition in North-West Mongolia, by Mr. E, D. Morgan. The first-named is illustrated by a map, which is not particularly well lithographed. The geographical notes, however, are the chief feature of the number. The Dutch Arctic Expedition claims the place of honour, and two pages are devoted to Dr. Holub’s career. There is also a long account of the native territories south of the Zambesi, abridged from a report to Sir Theophilus Shepstone, which embodies informa- tion hitherto unattainable, and the more valuable as it has been revised by Dr. Holub. The exploration of the Swat River by the Aludlah is recorded. The concluding thirteen pages are taken up with notes on new books and new maps, the map part bearing a close resemblance to a catalogue. Mr. STANFORD has published a new Library Map of the World, on Mercator’s projection. The size is 5 feet by 3 feet, and has several new and admirable features, The currents in the ocean are shown by strong blue waved lines, The areas occupied by these currents, which are chiefly caused by the great periodical winds, have an oscillating boundary or limit, as waved lines are better calculated to indicate this, than the firm and sharply defined lines frequently used. A few of the lines in each current have arrow heads to indicate the direction. Figures in blue upon these waved lines, give the maximum and minimum rates in nautical miles per twenty-four hours. These are selected, we believe, from innumerable observations that have been registered and examined by Captains Evans and Hull of the Hydrographic Department, and published in their invaluable ‘* Wind and Current Charts.” The drift currents in the Indian Ocean and China Sea change with the Monsoon winds, and in the chart they are shown as they flow during the south-west monsoon, which blows from April to September. The trade and monsoon winds are named over the map in red letters, and the areas over which they generally blow are tinted in colours. The areas over which north-east winds blow are coloured blue, the areas for south-east winds pink; other areas are differently coloured in accordance with the particular direction of the winds which blow over them, A graduated scale at either side of the chart shows the sun’s progress to and fro between the tropics ; to the left of the chart the sun’s vertical action may be traced as he proceeds northward to the Tropic of Cancer, and to the right, his return journey southward to the Tropic of Capricorn. Dates are given at intervals of five days, the intervening deys being 7a. ate a) | aa a Wee Nov. 6, 1879]) NATURE 23 indicated by small red dots. In spare spaces to the north of the chart, small inset maps have been drawn to give the completion of the geography in the Polar areas, and upon these will be found, indicated by colour, the average summer limit of open water as faras known. The curves of equal magnetic variation are also shown upon these small maps, and the spots known as ihe magnetic poles are named. The northern limit of woods, beyond which trees are unknown, is shown upon the small map of the Arctic regions. The principal ocean mail routes are shown by broken black lines, and upon the longer lines the names of ports of departure and arrival are named, The number of days, the average of numerous voyages is noted on each line, and the distances in nautical miles from port to port are also given. ‘The submarine telegraph cables are shown by strong black lines with dots at short intervals, and the various cables to the United States are identified by having their dates attached. ‘The land is coloured politically giving the most recent territorial divisions, and a bright red colour is reserved for British possessions, which enables the reader to see easily how frequent are the stepping stones of British territory over the face of the earth, Altogether it will be seen this map is well calculated to serve a great variety of useful purposes ; its execution is all that could be desired. Dr. NACHTIGAL has received a telegram from Malta to the effect that Herr Gerard Rohlfs’s expedition, having reached and explored the Kufara Oasis, was there set ;upon and plundered. Herr Rohlfs and Dr. Anton Stecker were consequently com- pelled to return to Benghazi, though they hoped to receive help and compensation from the Turkish Provincial Government, TrUBNER AND Co. will shortly publish a new work on Madagascar, under the title of ‘‘The Great African Island: Chapters on Madagascar,” by the Rev. James Sibree, jun The work will contain a popular account of recent researches in the physical geography, geology, and exploration of the country, and its natural history and botany ; and in the origin and divi- sions, customs and language, superstitions, folk-lore, and reli- gious beliefs and- practices of the different tribes. It will contain physical and ethnographical maps. GE£oLocistTs will be glad to learn the appearance of a trust- worthy map of mines in Russia in Europe by Prof. W. Moller, “Carte des Gites miniers de la Russie d’ Europe.” © WE notice in the last number of the Bulletin of the Belgian Geographical Society a paper on the colour of eyes and hair in Belgium, by M. Vanderkindere, with maps: on the Zambeze, by M. Wauters ; and the quarterly report on the demographical and medical statistics, THE Church Missionary Society a short time back entertained the idea of establishing a sanatorium on the west coast of Africa, and the matter, it may be remembered, caused some discussion between their adviser, Capt. R. F. Burton, and the Rev. T. J. Comber, a Baptist missionary, at one of the Geographical Society’s meetings last session. It was proposed to place the sanatorium on Mount Cameroons, which rises to a height of over 13,000 feet, just in the angle of the Gulf of Guinea, opposite Fernando Po. Two agents of the Society accordingly proceeded thither in the missionary steamer Henry Venn, and ascended the mountain to the highest peak. Their report was favourable to the suitability of a spot some 7,500 feet high, known as Mann’s Spring, but to build a residence there and cut a road to it would, it appears, cost more than the Society can afford in order to recruit the health of their missionaries. ré UNDER the heading of ethnography, a paper by Pére Petitot, on the Asiatic origin of the Indians of Arctic America is com- menced in the current number of Zes Missions catholigques. THE great work undertaken by the Russian Geographical Society under the title of ‘* Works of the Ethnographical and Statistical Expedition to South-Western Russia” is now com- pleted. The whole work consists of seven volumes, in nine fascicules, or nearly 4,800 pages, and it contains abundant most useful information as to those countries which afford so great an interest by the variety of their population. WE notice the appearance of the following important works recently published by the Russian Geographical Society :—(r) The eighth volume of its Memoirs (Zapioki), which contains a ** General Sketch{of a Theory’of Constant Marine Currents,” y Colonel Schilling, and a ‘‘ Note on the New Map of Persia,” by General Stebnitzky, with the map itself, which is one of the most important acquisitions to the exact cartography of Asia during recent years.—(2) The fourth volume of the translation of Kitter’s ‘‘Asia,” being the description of the Altay and Sayan Mountains within the limits of the Russian Empire, with a very important appendix (far larger than the original work itself), by MM. Potanin and Semenoff, being a résumé of all new informa- tion acquired from 1832 to 1875.—(3) ‘‘The Kashgar Land” (Xashgaria), an historical and geographical sketch, of the country, of its military forces, industry, and trade, by M. Kuropatkin, with additions of General Stubendorff and M. Sreznevsky.—(4) ‘‘ A Journey to the Holy Land of the Prince Radzivil-Sirotka during the Years 1582 to 1584,” published and annotated by M. Hildebrandt ; and (5) The two first volumes of a ‘* Catalogue of the Library of the Geographical Society,” con- taining books on mathematical, physical, and general geography. The importance of this cataloguejwill be realised by all those who know what a number of works appear in Russian on the geography of Russia and Asia, and how difficult it is to know them. We notice with pleasure that the catalogue contains detailed indexes of all papers that have appeared in the publica- tions of the Geographical Society. Animportant work, being the description of M. Potanin’s journey to north-western Mongolia is already in the press. CELESTIAL PHOTOMETRY THE volume of the annals of the Harvard Observatory just issued is one of great importance to astronomical science, as the new director, Prof. Pickering, has included in it the photometric observations which have lately been carried on with so much vigour. The first chapter is devoted to a description of the forms of instruments—many of them new—which have been employed, and in this notice we shall limit ourselves to an analysis of this part of the volume. The first instrument employed was constructed by attaching a Nicol to a double-image prism in such a way that it could turn freely around its axis. By a graduated circle and index, the angle could be measured to tenths of a degree. When two bright objects were viewed through this instrument, two images of each were formed by the double-image prism, either of which, by turning the Nicol, could be made as faint as was desirable. isieter their relative light, the faint image of the brightest could thus always be reduced to equality with the bright image of the faint object. The true relative brightness is then deduced from the angle through which the Nicol is turned. This form of photometer may be used without a telescope in the comparison of bright stars which are sufficiently near each other, but the loss of light is large. By Fresnel’s formula for the reflection of light, each of the four surfaces of the prisms will reflect four per cent. The amount they would transmit, were there no other losses, would theréfore be (‘96)* = 849... This supposes that the faces of the Nicol are perpendicular to its axis. If made of the usual form, the loss would be still greater. The unavoidable defects of the surface, dust, absorption, and the reflection at the surface of the balsam cementing the prism, reduce still further the transmitted light. About ‘80 will remain under favourable circumstances. Since the prism forms two equal images, only one half or "40 can pass into each, and when the two images are reduced to equality, their brightness will be only ‘20 or "40 of that of the fainter object. For any but the brightest of the heavenly bodies, it is accordingly necessary to increase the light by means of a telescope. The following general remarks occur on this form of instru- ment. ‘Since the relative positions of the Nicol and double- image prism are unimportant, either might be placed in front of the object-glass, between the object-glass and the field-lens, between the field-lens and eye-lens, or between the eye-lens and the eye. Unless the double-image prism is placed in front of the object-glass, two images of the latter will, in general, be formed, giving two emergent pencils, both of which must pass without loss into the eye. There is danger that on moving the eye one or other of these pencils will be partially cut off, thus reducing the brightness of one of the objects. If the two images to be compared are brought very near together, this is less likely to occur, On the other hand, at least one of the images of a double-image prism is not achromatic ; and, if the prism is placed in front of the object- glass, the colour becomes very marked. In this case, also, it becomes difficult to obtain a prism having such flat surfaces that the images will not be distorted, since any irregularities are 24 NATURE [WVov. 6, 1879 magnified by the full power of the telescope. If the two images are separated by a distance d, any two stars at about this interval may be brought together, so that any star may be compared with all those on the circumference of a circle having aradius d. With a large prism in which @ equalled about 3", an attempt was made to compare B and p /ersei and B and + Lyre by placing the prism in front of the objective of a telescope having an aperture of about 10 cms, A direct measure of the variations in brightness of the above-named variable stars might thus be obtained. This plan was abandoned, owing to the colour of the images. “< There is one other position of the prism, that where the eye- piece forms its image of the objective, in which the emergent pencil will remain undivided. This is, however, the exact point at which the eye should be placed ; and, moreover, the Fic. 1 interval between the images cannot, in this case, be altered. Good results were obtained by placing the prism a little nearer the eye-piece, as in the first of the instruments described below. The advantage of placing the prism between the eye-lens and field-lens is that it is less likely to reduce the field of view. As this plan is open to the double objection of dividing the emer- gent pencil and keeping the images always at the same distance apart, it has not been employed in the following observations. ‘‘The fourth position for the prism is between the field-lens and objective. It then separates the emergent pencils by an amount increasing with its distance from the objective, but, on the other hand, the interval between the images is proportional to its distance from the focus. Whatever, therefore, is the interval between the two stars, within certain limits, their images may always be made to coincide by first [turning the prism and Fic. 2. then sliding it along the axis of the telescope to the proper |, distance from the focus. A prism may therefore be used, in which the separation is small, and thus the two images of the objective may be rendered nearly coincident. “*The position of Nicol is comparatively unimportant. Since it must turn without moving the double-image prism, it is more convenient to place it between the latter and the eye. It was, accordingly, sometimes placed between the eye-lens and the eye, and sometimes between the field-lens and eye-lens.” We now come to the instruments. The first observations were made with an eye-piece having a Nicol between its two lenses and with the double-image prism between this eye-lens and the eye. The observations made with this apparatus are regarded as preliminary ; a second photometer was constructed, in which the Nicol and double-image prism were both placed in front of the eye-lens, the Nicol being next the eye. One marked advantage of this instrument, was that. the circle instead of the index, turned ywith the Nicol. The labour of reading was thus much reduced. The Nicol was also replaced by a double-image prism, ‘with the advantage that the field of view was less obstructed. With this form, however, the great number of images formed by successive reflections, when a bright object was observed, rendered it sometimes difficult to determine which should be compared. A much simpler arrangement was used later. It consisted of two concentric tubes, one carrying 2 graduated circle, the other two indices. In the first of these tubes, a double-image prism was inserted ; the other, which was held next the eye, carried a Nicol. This photometer was used without a telescope | Fic, 3 (Scale }). to compure the relative brightness of Saturn and Mars, and Jupiter and Venus. A tube was attached to this photometer, so that the light should always pass nearly normally through the prisms. When the objects were sufficiently bright, and within a few degrees of one another, good results were thus obtained, but the colour of the images, and their want of symmetry, was a serious objection when a great difference in light was to be measured, After an experience of some months with these instruments, certain improvements suggested themselves, and still another photometer was constructed, represented in perspective in Fig. 1, and in section, on a scale of one-fifth, in Fig, 2, In both figures, B represents the eye-piece, in front of which is Fic. 4 (Sca le }). inserted a Nicol, A. A circle, divided into degrees, is attached, and turns with the eye-piece. The indices DD are fastened to the tube E, which ‘slides into the telescopes. F is a rochon prism, which was used instead of a double-image prism of spar. As it consisted of quartz, the separation of the images amounted to somewhat less than 1°, so that the emergent pencils overlapped each other by nearly three quarters of the diameter of each. The apparatus had, moreover, the great advantage that the images were precisely alike and nearly achromatic. The prism was placed in a tube, which could be drawn towards or from the eye-piece bya cord G, Attaching this photometer to a telescope, and directing it towards a star, the latter appeared double; and the interyal between the components might be altered at will. . Oe ag ig ey» - Nov. 6, 1879] — These photometers could only be used for comparing objects very near together, as double stars, or satellites. For greater intervals, another device was tried. Two achromatic prisms of ‘small angle were placed in front of the telescope, so as to cover the central portion of its object-glass. Two images of any object would thus be formed, separated by an interval de- pendent on the angle of the prisms and on their relative positions. By turning one or both of the prisms, the directions of the two images may be altered at will, and their distance varied between the sum and the difference of the angular deviation of the prisms. EFic 5 After bringing the images near together, they could be com- pared by one of the photometers described above. This method was tried with two circular prisms, having a diameter of 4°4 cms., and producing a deviation of about 1°°3. A telescope was used having an aperture of 10 cms. The light of any objects nearer than 2°°6 could be measured with this instrument. The constant, or proportion of the light transmitted by the prisms, was easily determined by comparing, by the photometer, the two images of the same object. This instrument, like those previously described, has the great advantage that both objects are seen under,the same magnifying power, and therefore closely resemble each other, even when the condition of theairis not good. This plan cannot be used for large intervals,.since, if the angles of the prisms are large, the images will be coloured by the secondary spectrum, and it would also be difficult to find the objects. With a large telescope, the prisms could not be reached easily by the observer, and the large diameter required would be an objection to their use. The idea suggested itself to Prof. Pickering, that such photo- meters might be used to compare the colours of the components of double stars, by measuring the relative light of different portions of their spectra, A combined spectroscope and photometer, NATURE 25 shown in Fig 3, was devised. A is a Nicol, placed in front of the eye-piece B. The graduated circle C c is attached directly to the tube carrying the Nicol; and the indices D D are fastened to the tube G, which slides into the telescope. H is a direct-vision prism, by which the images of the stars are converted into linear spectra. Fis a diaphragm placed at the focus, and having a slit in it ‘o2 cms. broad, parallel to the edges of the prism. It is, therefore, perpendicular to the spectra, and permits a short portion of each to pass through. These appear as two stars, of acolour which may be varied with the position of the objects observed, as regards the axis of the telescope. Their relative light was measured by forming two images of each, by a plate of Iceland spar, E, which was used instead of a double-image prism, since the rays were not parallel, The light was then measured by turning the Nicol. All of the photometers described above are open to the objec- tion that the loss of light is very great. Under the most favour- able circumstances only ‘20 to "40 of the light is used ; so that, with the large telescope of aperture 38 cms., faint objects appear no brighter than with a telescope having an aperture of 18 to 24 cms., with a common eye-piece. To remedy this objection which was greatly felt during the observations of the satellites of “ie a class of photometers of wholly different form was tried. In these the image of some bright object, assumed as a standard, is reflected into the field of the telescope, and its light reduced by a known amount, until it is no brighter than the object tobe measured. An unobstructed view of the latter \is obtained meanwhile, with an eye-piece of the usual form, The first of these instruments is represented in Fig. 4. The image of the faint object formed by the telescope is viewed by the eye-piece A. The light of the bright star taken as a standard, passes outside the telescope, and falls upon the prism 8, by which it is reflected through the objective D of a small auxiliary telescope, and falling on the prism F, is brought into the field of view. ‘The faint object is thus seen in one half of the field with the full aperture of the telescope; while the bright standard appears in the other half of the field, its image being formed by the small telescope. cand E are two Nicols, of which E may be rotated, and the light pas:ing through it reduced at will. G G is a graduated circle, attached to the tube carrying D and E, and measuring the reduction of the light by an index H, which is fixed. The whole photometer may be turned around the axis of the large telescope, the tube carrying the prism enables the latter to rotate around the axis of the auxiliary telescope, and, finally the prism may be tipped around an axis parallel to its edges. Either two of these motions enable the observer to bring any object into the field of view of the small telescope. Practically, the second and third motions were used for the purpose. The first of these movements was reserved almost exclusively for the purpose of placing the prism so that it would conceal the bright star or planet with which the faint object was to be compared, when their distance apart was small. Otherwise, its light as seen in the large telescope, would be so intense as to interfere with the proper estimate of the light of the faint object. I is a lamp, by which the half of the field covered by the prism F may be illuminated, so as to render it as bright as the other half of the field. A piece of blue glass, kK, served to vary the colour of the light. : Great difficulty was experienced in obtaining good images of bright stars with the small telescope, on account of the Nicols used. Since the rays passing through E are convergent, aber- ration is caused by the obliquity of its faces, even if they are plane and parallel, Hence the Nicols were removed, and a new form tried. The lenses of a double-image micrometer being taken out, two V-shaped pieces of brass were attached to the slides carrying the divided lens. A square hole, or ‘‘cat’s eye,” was thus formed, whose dimensions could be altered at will, by turning the micrometer screw. This arrangement is shown in MN, Fig. 6. Placing it near the objective D, Fig. 4, the light was varied by changing the aperture of the small telescope. All these instruments, however, were heavy, difficult to adjust, and not easily removed and replaced. These defects were remedied by still another form, represented in perspective in Fig. 5, and in section, on a scale of one-fifth, in Fig. 6. The same letters are used as in Fig. 4, for the corresponding parts. The faint object is viewed with the eye-piece A, while the light of the bright object, passing outside of the telescope, is reflected by the prism B into the object-glass D, whose aperture 26 NATURE [WVov. 6, 1879 is varied by the screw 1, which moves the platesM N. Finally, the prism F throws the light into the field of A. The whole is attached to the tube H, which slides into the end of the telescope. This photometer is light, can be easily removed, and bya suitable adapter may be attached to any telescope. As it forms a single piece, the adjustments are little liable to be disturbed. In some observations, especially during twilight or moonlight, errors were apprehended from the comparative darkness of that half of the field covered by the prism F, This prism was re- placed in other forms therefore by a piece of parallel glass. They were then called photometers ©’ and J. The reflected stars they formed were much fainter, and double, one image being pro- duced by each surface of the glass,- Still these instruments had the advantage that the field was unobstructed, and the star to be measured might be placed in any desired position, as regards the standard. The latter class of photometers can be used only in the measurement of faint stars. If the image of the object seen in the large telescope is brighter than that formed by the auxiliary telescope, no setting of the Nicols or micrometer screw will render them equal. This difficulty was obviated by using the photometer shown in Fig, 4, removing the Nicols, and replacing its eye-piece by the concentric tubes referred to in an early part of this analysis. The images of the same object, seen in the large and small telescope, were first compared, and the constant thus found was used in reducing the observations of other objects. The advantages of this photometer are that stars of greatly different brightness and in different parts of the sky may be compared ; but the loss of light is great, and the images are seen under different magnifying powers, UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL INTELLIGENCE CAMBRIDGE.—The Board of Natural Science Studies have recommended a new set of regulations for the Natural Sciences Tripos, to take effect as regards the first part of the examination, in the Easter Term of 1881,and as regards the second part in Easter Term of 1882. In effect it is intended to provide for a class list in general natural science honours in June each year, founded on aggregate knowledge shown by candidates in the first part of the examination, provided no credit is given in a subject unless the candidate has shown a competent knowledge of that subject. Each of the three classes is to be arranged in alphabetical order, The general arrangement of subjects and practical work has already beensettled, but the details will no doubt invite attention. The working of Regulation 6 is rather curious. ‘In the first part of the examination there shall be a practical examination, either written or vivé voce, or both, in such subjects as the Board of Natural Science Studies shall from time to time determine, provided that in all those subjects in which there is no such practical examination, one or more of the questions in the printed papers refer to objects exhibited at the examination,” Regulation 7 states that there is to be a practical examination either written or vivd voce, or both, in each of the eight subjects of examination in the second part. Regulation 14 proposes that, in arranging the class-list for the second part of the examination, the examiners shall have regard to general knowledge and ability as well as to special proficiency in one or more subjects. No candidate shall obtain a first-class for proficiency in one subject unless he show a competent knowledge of some cognate subject. When Human Anatomy is taken as the principal subject, either Zoology and Comparative Anatomy, or Physiology, be taken as a necessary cognate subject. Regulation 15 includes the following :—In each case of giving a first-class in the second part of the examination, the examiners shall specify the subjects for which the candidate is so placed, or the reason for specially distinguishing him,—A discussion in the Arts School on the proposed regulations for the Natural Sciences Tripos (on October 31), was opened by Mr, Sedley Taylor expressing great doubts about the desirability of giving such a prominent place to human anatomy in an honours examination. He read to those present the opinions of three eminent physiologists and anatomists specially obtained by himself on this point, and they were, on the whole, against the proposed regulation as unnecessary, if human anatomy were to be taught in the only way in which it could fairly enter into the Tripos, for its general and not its pro- fessional value, while usually the memory work involved was enormous, and such as to be of quite technical character. Dr. Humphry strongly supported the regulations and the distribution of subjects, as a method of aiding in preserving a scientific study of human anatomy. Dr. Paget dissented strongly from this view, not as 2 means of discouraging the study of anatomy, but to lessen the strain of constant change by questions which went to the root of the matter. He believed no sufficient settlement could be expected unless or until the Tripos was divided into two—biological and non-biological; it was unwieldy and un- manageable in its present state. Surely it was not impossible to frame some division of subjects which might secure this and be found workable. Mr, Balfour did not agree with the way in which human anatomy was regarded as so far apart from the anatomy of all other animals as to gain such distinctive marks, while no such division was made in physiology. Mr. Trotter thought it would be quite impracticable to enter upon the dis- cussion of the Tripos at present, and that it would be impossible to divide the subjects into biological and non-biological. The geologists would object. Mr. J. N. Langley testified to the difficulty men often found in choosing or combining their sub- jects. Mr, Bettany strongly supported Dr. Paget’s projected division of the Tripos into two, but with this difference, that men who gained a degree in the first part of the Tripos, as now proposed, in the ‘‘ comparatively elementary” parts of the sub- jects, should be allowed to gain their final class in either bio- logical or non-biological subjects, without such complex and often uncertain or vague regulations to puzzle candidates. THERE can be little doubt as to the health of Cambridge being good, and the increasing confidence in Cambridge as a place of education, in view of two facts, viz., that the death-rate during the Michaelmas quarter has been only at the rate of thirteen per thousand, per annum ; including only six deaths from the seven: principal zymotics ; and that the entry of freshmen at the colleges. this year is the largest ever known, having increased by at least one hundred. It is the more incumbent on the university or the colleges, to see that space for exercise, recreation, study, and sleeping are fully provided for every undergraduate, and to take: an active part in preventing disorderly men from remaining to vitiate others ; and it is equally the duty of every wise man nat to tempt our youth into overstrain of body and mind. . Mr. PATTISON MuIR, Caius Preelector in Chemistry, lectures on the Metals this term, and also on Advanced Systematic Chemistry to Tripos candidates. Professors Liveing and Dewar have issued a notice of great importance to those desirous of prose- cuting researches in chemistry. The new rooms added to the Chemical Department will enable them to accommodate a limited number of students who have had the necessary training and are desirous of prosecuting chemical research or of acquiring skill in special branches of chemistry. Applications for per- mission to prosecute researches must be made personally to the Professors, and all investigations must be subject to their approval, Mr, A. Scott, B.A., Prof. Dewar’s assistant, will have the general superintendence of this part of the laboratory. A COURSE of practical instruction in Experimental Physics. will be given in the Cavendish Laboratory during this term. The course will be adapted to the requirements of beginners, and demonstrati=ns will be given daily at times to be arranged with the members of the class. Thus again one of the most necessary classes is to be provided, but we trust Mr, Garnett’s energies in this department will not be overtaxed. OxForD.—In a congregation to be held on November 18, the amendments to the proposed statute respecting degrees in Natural Science will be considered. As the proposed statute now stands, scholars in the Faculty of Natural Science may offer for Responsions Greek and Latin, or Greek or Latin with either French or German, and shall also be examined in arithmetic, the elements of plane geometry and algebra up the binomial theorem, An amendment has been proposed by Prof, Rolleston to substitute the elements of deductive logic for algebra beyond proportion, In moderations (first public examination), Prof. Rolleston proposes to insert deductive and inductive logic as air alternative for algebra. Candidates will be obliged to offer either Greek or Latin, with either French or German, and will be examined in the theory of logarithms, Euclid, trigonometry as far as the solution of plane triangles, and elementary mechanics, .The council have proposed amendments abolishing those clauses granting the rights of Masters of Arts to Masters of Natural Science, since counsel’s opinion has given it "to be beyond the power of the University to grant such privileges to a new faculty. The council will accordingly propose a decree authorising the- Vice-Chancellor to take whaterer steps may be necessary to ob‘ain Jes | Peat se Nov. 6, AI 879] the power of conferring on Masters in Natural Science the rights and privileges at present enjoyed by Masters of Arts, The statute providing that there shall be two examiners in each of the three branches of the natural science school will come into operation this term. The three new examiners will be Dr. Odling in Chemistry, Prof, Ray Lankester in Biology, and Mr. W.N. Stocker, Brasenose, in Physics. Dr. Acland, Regius Professor of Medicine, will give a public lecture at the Museum, November 20, on the new hospital at Baltimore, U.S., and its relation to the medical studies at the Johns Hopkins University, and to general medical education. Mr. C, J. Baker, of Manchester Grammar School, has been elected to the Physical Postmastership at Merton College. TuHE Board of Trinity College, Dublin, have elected Dr. Alexander Macalister to the Professorship of Anatomy, and Chirurgery, in-Dublin University, vacant owing to the resignation of Dr. B. McDowel. Prof. Macalister still retains his Professor- ship of Comparative Anatomy, but resigns the Professorship of Zoology and the Directorship of the Zoological Museum. The election to the former of these posts we observe is fixed for an early day in this month ; the nominators are the members of the academic council of the University of Dublin, with a veto on the person nominated by the board. The election to the Directorship of the museum is in the hands of the board, and to this the person elected has always been the professor of zoology. The yearly emolument from both posts is between 300/ and 400/, a year. SCIENTIFIC SERIALS Annalen der Physik und Chemie, No. 9.—Questions in molecular physics figure largely in this number. Herr v. Wroblewski inquires into the nature of absorption of gases, by a kinematical method, inferring from the phenomena of motion of gases diffusing in absorbent substances, the condition in which they exist in these. The phenomena in caoutchouc are studied, and the author concludes, zzfer alia, that the absorp= tion of protoxide of nitrogen, carbonic acid, and hydrogen by caoutchouc is a purely physical process, and the gases retain, after absorption, their gaseous state and all characteristic properties. The constant of diffusion of a gas depends only on physical properties, and chiefly its specific gravity, being approxi- mately inversely proportional to the square root of this ; but the specifically lighter gases show greater constants than this relation expresses. The constant for protoxide of nitrogen and carbonic acid increases with increase of temperature, and at 10° C, is fifty times smaller than that for carbonic acid in water. A caoutchouc membrane is to be conceived as a porous plate endowed with gas-condensing and rarefying powers (the gas moving through the pores).—M. Chappuis investigates the condensation of gases on a glass surface by a similar method to Magnus’s, viz., measuring the expansion between two exactly known tempera- tures, of a certain volume ‘of gas at constant pressure-in contact with a large glass surface, and inferring the original volume of the gas.. The numerical results for hydrogen, air, carbonic acid, sulphurous acid, and ammonia, from 0° to 100° and 180°, are given, and utilised in determining the absolute coefficient of ex- pansion at constant pressure (a slight correction of the former determinations being necessitated by the phenomenon in question). Magnus’s statement that at 100° there is no condensed gas layer on .a glass surface is shown to be incorrect in the case of ammonia.—A paper by Herr Schleiermacher treats of the quantity of liquid condensed on a moistened body. The author rejects Wilhelmy’s numerical values for the condensation, and considers that, in determining the specific gravity of a liquid, if one be content with an accuracy of o'002 per cent., the influence of condensation may be neglected ; in general the coefficients of condensation would be, at the most, of the order of o’cooor _S __ The specific heat of water is anew determined by Sq. ctm. Herr Heinrichsen, who arrives at the number 1°071 (for 100°) ; this stands about midway between Regnault’s result, 1°013, and Jamin’s, 1°122,. (Stamo’got 1°125, and Miinchhausen 1°030.)— Herr Koch finds that the oxygen-polarisation of platinum and _ palladium increases the friction of these metals toa glass surface coated with water or dilute sulphuric acid.—Mr. B. O. Peirce, jun., shows from experiments how greatly the electromotive force of gas elements depends on the nature of the electrolyte,— Herr Edlund, replying to a criticism by Herr Dorn, gives experi- metital evidence that the electromotive force in passage of liquids NATURE 27 through tubes depends directly on the velocity, and not on the pressure ; also that it is inversely proportional to the cross-section > and explains the facts observed by the unitarian theory.—Herr Fenkner expounds some laws of transverse vibrations of metallic cylinders open at one end,—Remaining papers :—Researches on anomalous dispersion of light, by Herr Sieben.— Researches on the height of the atmosphere, &c. (continued), by Herr Ritter. —On the electromotive force of the Grove element in units of Siemens and Weber, by Herr Riecke, THE Journal of the Royal Microscopical Society, vol. ii. No. 6, October, contains the 7ransactions of the Society.—On a new spe- cies of Cothurnia, by John Davis ; with Plate 20, Cothurniais a genus of stalked infusoria very closely allied indeed to Vaginicola. Mr. Davis’s new form is apparently very correctly referred to it ; but if so, his species is nota rotifer, and, we presume, does not possess a mastax. The infusorian is described as much smaller thanits lorica, and is so figured when contracted ; this is not cha- racteristic of a rotifer.—On some causes of Brownian movements, by Dr. W. Ord. Observations suggested by the study of Am- phipleura pellucida mounted in Canada balsam, by lamp-light and sun-light, with various objectives, by Col. Woodward.—Oa Abbée’s experiment on Pleurosigma angulatum, by Col. Wood- ward.—On new species and varieties of diatoms from the Cas- pian Sea, by Dr. A. Grunow ; translated, with additional notes, by F. Kitton ; with Plate 21.—The Record of current researches relating to invertebrata, cryptogamia, and microscopy. This record forms a most valuable portion of this journal. It occu- pies over 100 pages of this number, and, as far as one can judge, the notices give a very fair epitome of the papers quoted. The attempt to make this record a complete one of the invertebrates and of cryptogams is praiseworthy, but it seems to us that our yearly zoological and botanical records already do this in a fairly per- fect way. Would it not be better that this bi-monthly record should confine itself to those papers of special interest to the microscopist. In this record references to papers of the type of Fischer on Vo/uta musica, Norman on Solenopus, or Pfeffer on Philippine pteropods, might be omitted. Only those who have worked at compiling bibliography know the great labour and skill required to keep up such a record; and certainly the editor of this journal deserves the special thanks of all workers with the microscope. THE Gaszelta Chimica (fasc. vi. and vii.) contains the following papers :—On the chlorides and oxychlorides of tung- sten, by U. Schiff.—On a method of preparing economically the bibasic citrate of quinine, by F. Dotto-Scribani.—Researches on Satureja juliana, by P. Spica.—Chemical researches on the salts obtained from the mother liquors of the’salt works of Volterra, by A. Funaro.—Chemical analysis ofa Chilian chrysocolla, by N. Pellegrini.—On a singular decomposition of the chlorhydrate of phenyl-ethyl-amine, by M. Fileti and A. Piccinii—On some neutral ammonia salts (citrate, phosphate, photosantonate), by F. Sestini.—New experiments on resinous substances, by G. L. Ciamician.—On the isomeric nitrosalicylic acids, by U. Schiff and F, Masino.—On the pretended artificial tannic acid, by P. Freda.—On piperidine, by R. Schiff.—On the action of cyanide of potash on the ammoniacal derivatives of chloral, by R. Schiff and §S. Speciale.—On the crystalline forms of anglesite from Sardinia, by Q. Sella.—On the forms of crystallisation of some substances belonging to the aromatic series, by R. Panebianco.— On lithofellic acid and some lithofellates, by G. Roster.— Chemico-mineralogical researches on the lavas of the volcanoes of the Ernici in the Valle del Sacco (Rome), by S. Speciale.—On the discovery of nitric acid in the presence of nitrous acid, by A. Piccini. THE Rivista Scientifico Industriale (Nos. 17 and 18),—From these numbers we note the following papers :—On a new method for determining the distribution of magnetism in magnets, by Prof. G. J. Agostini.—On the electromotive forces developed by saline solutions of different degrees by concentration with the metals which form their base, by A. Eccher Dall’ Eco.—On the temperature of the voltaic arc and of the positive and negative polar extremities of the carbons during the production of the electric light, by Prof. Rossettii—On the decomposition of chlorhydrate of ethyl amine by heat, by M. Fileti and A. Piccini. —On the preservation of dragon flies with fading colours, by Prof. Pietro Stefanelli—On a new hydrometer for measuring the water supplied to steam-boilers, and called ‘‘ Isaghidrometro ” by its inventor, Sig. Massarotti—On the work which can be performed by the beams of certain aquatic motors, by Cesare 28 NATURE [Wov. 6, 1879 Modigliano.—On a palzontological discovery made at Monte- gazzo in Fellina (province of Reggio-Emilia), by Prof. A. Ferreti.—On some recent communications made to the Paris Chemical Society, by the Editor.—On the filling of a barometer tube in vacuo, by Prof. Damiano Macaluso. Tue Archives des Sciences physiques et naturelles (September, Geneva) contain the following papers of note :—Review of the principal publications on physiological botany during 1878, by M. Marc Micheli.—On xylic acid, its preparation and compounds derived from the same, by MM. E, Ador and Fr. Meier.—Note on the last report of the Council of the Royal Astronomical Society (London), by Prof. Gautier.—Analysis of some recent works relating to the topography and the constitution of the moon, by M. Rapin.—Account of the sixty-first meeting of the Swiss Naturalists’ Association, on Aug. 12-14, 1878. The remaining contents of the number consist of mere extracts from papers published in other serials and relate all to chemistry. La Natura (vol. iii, Nos. 16 and 17) contains the following papers of interest :—On the intensity of electric currents and of extra-currents in the telephone, by G. Farraris.—On the correc- tion of mercury thermometers, by C. Ferrari.—Observations made during the earthquake of August 9 last, by A. Serpieri. —On two new meteorological works, by C. Ferrari. SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES LonpDoN Mineralogical Society of Great Britain and Ireland, October 21.—Dr. M. Forster-Heddle, president, in the chair.— The following papers were read:—On the mineralogy and geognosy of the Orkney Islands, by the president.—On a probably dimorphous form of tin, by Dr. C, O. Trechmann.— On some Cornish tin-stones and tin-capels, by J. H. Collins, F.G.S.—Experiments on the elasticity of minerals, by John Milne.—On a peculiar pasty form of silica from Leadhills, Scotland, by Andrew French, F.C.S. Paris Academy of Sciences, October 27.—M. Daubrée in the chair.—The following papers were read :—Notice on the life and scientifie works of M. Dortet de Tessan, by Admiral Paris, —On the galvanic oxidation of gold, by M. Berthelot. This refers to Grotthuss’s observation of the dissolving of gold-wire when used as positive pole in sulphuric acid traversed by a cur- rent, The attack is not due to formation of persulphuric acid, but solely to the influence of the current and contact of the elec- trode with the electrolysed liquid.—Decomposition of selenhy- ‘dric acid by mercury, by M. Berthelot. He observed such decomposition when the substances had been in contact with each other a few years.—Note on the development of railways in Brazil, by Gen. Morin. Two maps from the Emperor were shown. The total length of railway in operation in the pro- vinces of Rio de Janeiro, St. Paul, and Minas Gerdes, is 2,882 km.; in construction, 1,751 km.; total, 4,633 km. From 1,000 km. to 1,200 km, of the working lines have a broad gauge of 1°60 m. ; the rest, for local traffic, a gauge of Im, The mountain chain near the sea in Rio de Janeiro presented great difficulties, but beyond, the railways lie in long and fertile val- leys.—Critical reflections on experiments concerning human heat, by M. Hirn,—On the gymnastics of M. Zander of Stock- holm, by M. Norstrém. This is a system of mechanical and passive gymnastics, machinery worked by steam being used to move the limbs of the subject in various ways (the force being suitably proportioned), M. Larrey remarked on the complicated and expensive nature of the apparatus, and desired scientific data as to the effects obtained.—Result of researches made with a view to find the origin of estival reinvasions of phylloxera, by M. Faucon. The principal cause he considers to be carriage by the wind (inferred from the result of fixing a sheet of oiled white paper on a board at the top of a post facing the wind). Other causes are passage of the insect on the surface of the ground, and the presence of eggs,—On the appearance of mil- dew or false American oidium in the vineyards of Italy, by M. Pirotta.—Determination of longitudes, latitudes, and azimuths in Algeria, by M. Perrier. He shows that the probable error of each definitive result is about one-tenth of a second of an arc,— Specific heats and points of fusion of different refractory metals, by M. Violle. ‘The specific heat of iridium grows regularly with the temperature, and the formula gives 1950° (of the air-thermo- meter) as the point of fusion. The specific heat of gold hardly varies up to 600°, then gradually increases towards the point of fusion, 1035°. Other points of fusion: silver, 954°; copper, 1032°, palladium, 1500°, platinum, 1775°.—Chloride of lime battery, by M. Niaudet. The positive electrode is a zinc plate in a solution of chloride-of sodium. The negative, one of carbon surrounded by fragments of carbon and chloride of lime in a porous vessel, All the combinations produced are soluble, and the battery remains an indefinite time at rest without being used up. The electromotive force at first is over 1°6 volt.—On the combinations of phosphuretted hydrogen with hydracids, and on their heat of formation, by M. Ogier.—On erbine, by M. Cléve. He recognises M, Soret’s priority, and the identity of the substances he himself called 4o/mium, with M, Soret’s X.— Complementary note on commercial trimethylamine, by MM. Duvillier and Bursine.—On ordinary cellulose, by M. Franchi- mont, This refers partly to dehydration of cellulose with sulphuric acid (chloride of zinc did not decompose cellulose).— On glucose, by M. Franchimont.—On the transmissibility of human rabies to the rabbit, by M. Raymond. Two rabbits were inoculated with blood and saliva (respectively) from a hydro- phobic person. That inoculated with saliva showed signs of rabies four days after, and soon died. Pieces of its salivary glands (got thirty-six hours after death) were introduced into two other rabbits, who also died (paralysed), but without passin through a violent stage.—Researches on Daltonism, by MM. Mace and Nicati. Theyaimed at comparative measures of the quantities of light perceived in different parts of the spectrum by the Daltonian and the normal eye. Curves were got corresponding to the three varieties of Daltonian eye. The descent of the curve in the green the authors think they have been the first to prove cer- tainly, No simple relation between visual activity and intensity of light was ascertained.—On the origin of the toxical properties of the Indians’ curare, hy M, Du Lacerda. None of the vege- table or animal juices often added by the Indians to the product of Strychnos have the effects of curare, and Strychnos castelnee, also, S. “viplinervia, are found to give curaric effects fully.—Ex- perimental researches on human heat during rest in bed, by M. Bonnat. In all seasons the minimum of the body-temperature (observed in the rectum) is between midnight and 34.M, At Nice, in winter, the minimum is rarely under 36°°3 ; in summer, 36°4 or 36°°5. From 3 A.M. the temperature rises till 9 A.M. (becoming, ¢.g., 36°°9 in winter), The maximum is between 2 P.M, and 4 P.M., and from 9 P.M. the temperature slowly falls tothe minimum. From 9 A.M. to 9 P.M. in winter the yaria- tions do not exceed three-tenths or four-tenths of a degree C. ; in summer they may reach six-tenths, CONTENTS Pace On Certain Errors RESPECTING THE STRUCTURE OF THE HEART ATTRIBUTED TO ARISTOTLE. By Prof, T. H. Hux ey, F.R.S. (With Illustration) . a ae ek ae ele, ete Selita eet an ON THE NECEsSITY FoR A NEw DEPARTURE IN SPECTRUM ANALYSIS. By J. Norman Lockyer, F.R.S.. . 5 2 + 5 8 2 ew oe Minp IN THE LowER ANIMALS. By GrorGe J. RomMANES . . +. 8 Our Book SHELF :— Mrs Fenwick Miller's ‘“‘Atlas of Anatomy, or Pictures of the Human Body” r o vite Gg r + AG Siva S308 Ys ee Higgs’s ‘‘ Electric Transmission of Power.”—W. F. B. . « « « 10 LETTERS TO THE EDITOR :— Sun-Spots in Earnest.—Prof. A. WINNECKE . vane XO Subject-Indexes.—F. D. BRowN. . . . 2 ite 10 Easter Island.—Auprrt J. Morr . . 1m Animals and the Musical Scale.— WILLIAM Pore i John Miers.—Dr. HENRY TrIMEN. . « « + oy ae ee The Howgate Arctic Expedition.—J. R. . o Ja Me xz Intellect in Brutes.—JAMES TURNBULL . . « « «© «© «© «© 8 » 22 Centipedes and Bees.—MEMOKIA «©. « «© «© « «© « ¢ 0 © © 22 Bone-Sucking—A Habit of Cattle. —W. Frazer; Joun LEContE. 12 FHarthquake in China —A.H.. 2. . 2. « » « «© w =) ee) me Vertical Shafts in the Chalk in Kent.—H. M,C. . « « 6 «© 6 « 43 Tue Funcrions oF UNIVERSITIES . . . 33 DESCRIPTION OF AN INSTRUMENT FOR Exptorinc Dark Cavitigs WHICH ARE INACCESSIBLE TO Direcr Licut. By THomas STEvEN- SON (With Illustration) . . . « « » » s © « 6 ot was el SE IMPROVEMENTS IN BLEACHING «. «_. «© «© «© 2 © © © » « » » IG Herinc’s THEORY OF THE VISION OF LiGHT AND Coxours, III. By Dr. WitttaM Pots, F.R.S cig 14 Ants oF TEXAS: HOW THEY CUT AND CARRY By G.T. Berrany . 17 ays 0 as 28 Tue “ Parasoc”’ Leaves; Or1Gin or CasTES BY EVOLUTION. Nores . Pas Wat es a Our AsTRonomicat CoLtumMN:— Oe sc ae ee ee Minor Planets in 1880 ee ee ge et iby oO els 20 The Red Spotupon Jupiter. . + «+ © 6 © © 6 6 6 e 20 A Standard Clock at the Observatory, Strassburg. . + « + + 20 Parysicats, NOTES) o< ( stusuina eee BRIS B eS) 7888 cw ar GuoGkarutca. Norss . . . . . + « 2 o@ « oa le wa tere CeestTiaL Puorometry (With Illustrations). » oe 0 es UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL INTELLIGENCE « - «© + «+ + + + 26 Screntreic SERIALS 93 Lae: wpe. se ee. le oe) os. \s) 0) ingame age aT SocieTtes AND ACADEMIES. . + + Car Ca 2 CIR ie ns 2 « 98 i i ee ° NATURE 29 THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 133, 1879 DEMONILOGY AND DEVIL-LORE Demonology and Devil-Lore. By Moncure Daniel Conway, M.A., B.D., of Divinity College, Harvard University, Cambridge, U.S.A. Member of the Anthropological Institute, London. With numerous Illustrations. 2 vols. 8vo. (London: Chatto and Windus, Piccadilly, 1879.) HESE two volumes carry us back to the period when existing creeds were embryonic, and when primitive man was creating his religion from his environment. The lights of heaven, animal and vegetable life, the elements and natural phenomena supplied the raw material of mythology, and received embodiment as anthropomorphic deities. Mr. Conway premises the inexactness of speaking of the worship of stock and stone, of insect and reptile as primitive. He expresses his belief that these only acquired intrinsic sanctity when the origin of their imputed sacredness was lost—the progress of ideas being from the far to the near, and not from the near to the far. Macaulay has attributed a monotheistic faith to the first inhabitants of Greece. Chalmers has done as much for China, and Mr. Brown, in his great Dionisiak Myth, has stated his conviction that “there is no gradual evolution in human thought, and that the earliest stages of religion and worship were infinitely superior to those which succeeded them.” But whilst he endorses these opinions, Mr. Conway must remember that they are not shared by other competent authorities. Dr. Goldziher, for instance, stoutly maintains that religion was painfully evolved from mythology, and that polytheism has been the invariable precursor of faith in a single God. In this conflict of opinion we are as unprepared to decide whether worship rose from the idol to the Deity, or sank from the pure religion of a golden age into the vagaries of a degraded mythology, as we are to determine whether an adoration of the generative powers preceded or grew out of that of the sun. In the present state of our knowledge we must be content to suspend our judgment; but in examining Mr. Conway's work we must remember that it rests upon atheory which at least is not proven. The undefined pantheism of primitive awe, says Mr. Conway, gradually melted into dualism, and the varying aspects of the Almighty as distributor of good and evi] caused his separation into distinct embodiments of these principles. This is doubtless, in a sense, perfectly true: ‘theism is found side by side with unconscious pantheism, of which it is only an expression,” and the Jew had in Jehovah a distributor of the evil as well as of the good before he evolved, or inherited, the conception of Satan. We are, however, inclined to believe that the first super- natural power which forces a conviction of its existence upon the mind of the savage is that of evil, and that the idea of a beneficent being is both subsidiary and of later occurrence. First, the embodiment of evil is feared and propitiated ; next, when invoked successfully for the de- struction of the worshipper’s enemies, he begins to exhibit (to his worshipper at least), an amiable phase of his cha- racter, and the conflicting elements which thus come into play form the germs of the rival entities of God and Devil. VoL, xxI.—No, 524 The first volume of the work, which is in two sections, deals with the Demon and its development into the Dragon, whilst the second volume is devoted to the Devil. This latter volume is filled with the theological conceptions which originated and developed the personification of abstract evil. These are scarcely suited for discussion in our pages, and for an account of their subtle gradations we must refer our readers to the book itself. The demon, however, is not theological but natural; it is a being the harmfulness of which is not gratuitous, but incidenta] to the gratification of its desires. It is the embodied expression of the natural obstacles with which savage man found himself obliged to contend, and hunger, heat, cold, wild beasts, the warring elements, darkness, disease, and death were the causes to which it owed its birth. It was to propitiate the hungry demon that sacrifices were instituted: in the hope that such offerings might satisfy the insatiate appetite of the monster to which not only human hunger and privation, but also eclipses were held to be due. -Here we may offer an explanation, omitted by Mr. Conway, which throws light upon the character of this devourer of the sun and moon. From the most remote antiquity the two points at which the ecliptic and the moon’s orbit intersect each other were called the head and tail of the dragon. As these are the points at which eclipses happen we see at once why astronomers fabled the existence of a monster which devoured the sun and moon. Once started the progress of the myth was easy, and after many varying phases the hunger fiend found its later developments in the form of the ogre and the vampire. Mr. Conway says that the visible consumption of sacrifice by fire in part originated the belief that it was the element of fiends, but it appears—on his theory that the progress of thought was from the far to the near—more probable that the sun having been the primary object of worship lent its cha- racteristic of heat to some of the abstractions to which it gave rise. This class of demon was modified as the painful action of intense heat, in the desert sand, in sunstroke, and in drought, was observed by man. The worship of the sun in heaven would pass easily into the worship of his natural representative of fire on earth, In opposition to light and heat we find darkness and cold personified, and trace in such tales as the descent of Ishtar to Hades and the deaths of Baldur and Adonis the grief of man for the loss of the sun. A propos of cold Mr. Conway reminds us that hell, which we are accustomed to regard as unpleasantly warm, really means a place of fireless darkness—fire being far too agreeable in northern latitudes to be regarded with disfavour, and he traces the superstitious desire for burial to the south side of a church to a wish for proximity to the happy abodes of Brimir and Sindri—fire and cinders! This passage is instructive, apart from its humour, for it teaches us how in the constant revolution of opinion the god of to-day is the fiend of the morrow, and how, as Mr. Fiske has pointed out, the German Abgott sums up in a single etymology the history of the havoc wrought by the monotheistic idea amongst the ancient symbols of Deity. To this degradation certain later forms of demon were due, and it is thus that the gipsy language retains as- the word for God that which we employ as the appella~ tion of the devil. cc. 3° NATURE '| Nov. 13, 1879 Mr. Conway passes in review the myths which spring from lightning, as the blasting-eye of Siva, the dart of Rudra, the spear of Odin, and the sword of St. George ; and treats of the typhoon caused by the passing of the bob-tailed dragon and the various embodiments of whirl- wind and waterspout, of sand-cloud and flood. He next proceeds to deal with the animal demons; and here, whilst we find much amusing folk-lore, we are surprised that he has not worked out that degradation of deities to which he himself alludes, and which might here be so effectively produced. Thus, although we have a sugges- tion of association between the hare and the moon, due probably to the resemblance of their Sanskrit names, and a statement that the lion is a symbol of majesty and of the sun in his glory reached in the zodiacal Leo, we have no hint of the extremely important change from the wor- ship of the bull to that of the lamb due to the precession of the equinox, which brought a different sign for adora- tion at the vernal equinox, and which caused, in all probability, the substitution of the Pascal Lamb for the worship of Apis; this feast of the ¢vamsz¢ having its remembrance at the present day in the hot cross bun. Similarly we have no explanation of the association of the ass, the cock, and the goat with phallic ritual, though their association with the most holy rites of that creed could not fail to have diabolised them in the eyes of adherents to succeeding faiths. The Pleiades, the Suc- coth Benoth of the Chaldeans, were represented by a hen gathering her chickens under her wings ; and we are surprised that Mr. Conway, who rarely loses an opportu- nity for startling the orthodox, has not here found a parallel to Christ’s lament over Jerusalem. He has an interesting notice of the wehr-wolf, which was seemingly suggested by Mr. Fiske’s excellent little work, ‘‘ Myths and Myth-Makers,” a volume to which, if we mistake not, ‘Mr. Conway is much indebted, The animal kingdom thus furnished its quota of demons, and we are shown how every force which could be exerted injuriously in claw, fang, sting, or hoof, was pressed into the service of evil. Hostile races were demonised of old, just as is the kidnapping white man of to-day amongst the black races of Africa. The varying physique of contending nations may have originated the myths of giants and dwarfs. A small people possessed of superior intellectual powers would scarcely fail to impress their huger opponents ; though we must not lose sight of the gigantic features which are so frequently associated with solar heroes, and which may, perhaps, suggest a more satisfactory expla- nation. With our recent experience of famine in India, we shall have no difficulty in understanding the dread in which its embodiment was held, nor the adoration of the Hindu for the rain-giving Indra. Yet Mr. Conway justly laments that this adoration has taken the form of temple building throughout the land, for the offering of a worship impotent to arrest the famine demon, whose course might have been stayed had the expenditure thus lavished been devoted to observatories—since modern science has pointed out the relation existing between sun-spots and years of scarcity. He at the same time reminds us that we are more intent upon scaring our own people with the hell and devils which we have inherited from our pagan forefathers, than in endeavouring=to remedy the demoniacal vice, infamy, and misery by which we are surrounded.. We cannot follow Mr. Conway through his long and interesting catalogue of the other natural features which have been demonised—the mountain steep, the gloomy night, the mysteries of disease and of death— this he has worked out with great care, and a 7¢sumé of these sections would fail to afford an idea of their interest. These natural obstacles personified and demon- ised by man having played their part, shrunk, as he advanced in civilisation, from their terrible proportions, to make way for more general forms expressing com- paratively abstract conceptions of physical evil. On the one hand stood moral man, on the other un- moral nature. Man had by this time discovered that moral order in nature was represented solely by his own power; the good gods were now respected only as incar- nate in men, whilst the active powers of evil remained hateful and hurtful to man, each becoming more purely a demon, and passing on to become a devil. Man in his growing culture gave a more symbolic cast to those repre- sentations, which had hitherto been purely naturalistic, and those semi-metaphysical conceptions were evolved which Mr. Conway classes under the general heading of dragon. In this class come the chimzra and sphinx, huge worm and serpent, Behemoth and Leviathan, Finally, the terrible conclusion that evil is a positive and imperishable principle in the universe—the notion of remorseless fate—of arbitrary will to which every human agony is attributable, detached from universal organic necessity, gave birth to the stupendous conception of embodied abstract evil in the person of the devil. Only those who have attempted an investigation similar to the present one of Mr. Conway can appreciate the ‘patient labour incident to the collection of widely-scattered materials and the mass of varied reading necessary to fit the author for his task, and we are happy to bear witness to the evidences of careful preparation with which these volumes abound. It is to be regretted that his excellent matter is frequently enveloped in rhetorical embellish- ments which render the comprehension of his meaning difficult. Mr. Conway’s style of writing is charac- terised by recapitulation, want of concentration, and a constant parenthetical introduction of matter only col- laterally related to the subject in hand, which render parts of his book far from easy reading. His explana- tions of the formation of legendary characters and of myths appear to us at times somewhat strained, and he leans unduly upon the metaphysical aspect of the ques- tion to the exclusion of those archeological and astrono- mical explanations which would have so greatly enhanced the value of his work. He has indeed dealt with phases of folk-lore, and has shown how physical and material wants were crystallised as entities, but he has, in our opinion, failed to make out, as he might have done, the genealogy of the infernal powers, and to cite those explanations which a knowledge of the astronomy of the ancients so constantly affords, In illustration of our remark, we may instance his treatment of one of the most important myths, that of Bel and the Dragon. He mentions that Bel is lord of the surface of the earth, including the atmosphere, and quotes long translations from tablets, giving accounts of the conflict as it w known to the Babylonians. He compares Bel’s sword P ae sore 21h le ; pili de ehh. Nov. 13, 1879] with that mentioned in Genesis as turning every way to guard the tree of life; he tells us that the Bel whom Milton saw was Cromwell and the dragon the serpent of English oppression ; and that to the Jews the power of Christendom came to be represented as the reign of Bel. But out of all this he obtains nothing further than an identification of Bel with Michael in the Apocalypse. This is sufficiently provoking when we remember the astronomical and cosmical facts which underlie the story. Were we possessed of no further evidence than that ‘afforded by the great pyramid, we should be at no loss to perceive the anxious care with which the heavenly bodies were observed by the ancients. A star-group which specially claimed their attention was the Pleiades. The Pleiades above the horizon were the celestial, and below it the infernal gods, The period of their culmination, typifying appropriately a deliverance from Hades of the departed, has been dedicated, through- out the Old and New Worlds, to the worship of the manes of ancestors. This festival survives in our All Saints Day the accompanying feasts of Hallow-e’en and All Souls, originating in the imperfection of ancient observa- tions. Wanting instruments of sufficient accuracy to de- termine the exact time of culmination, the ancients, by extending their devotions over three days, secured a due celebration of the sacred epoch. One act of this solemn period was lighting the sacred fire. The TZimes of November 4 records that Her Majesty was graciously pleased to assist at that holy rite, and witnessed the burning in effigy of a witch, personification of the evil power. This fire, the Bealltainn or Beltin, was the ffire of Bel, and celebrated his ascension to the zenith, whilst his adversary, the dragon, was cast down to the nadir. In the rising of the Pleiades, at the time that Scorpio sank below the horizon, we may see the victory of Bel over the Dragon—a victory always negatived, as autumn gave place to winter, and ever renewed as winter was succeeded by spring, the alter- nating success of the combatants being fitly recorded in a joint worship. When we remember the identification of the Cherubim with the Bull, and of the Seraph with Scorpio, we perceive that their continual cry is but another expression of the eternal struggle. Again, in a mystic sense, we must remember that in Babylonian mythology Bel was Saturn, the oldest and chief god, the great spirit of antiquity, the ancient of days, God of Heaven, Life God, Lord of the Cycles, Chronos, Eternal God. His emanation was light, and in his character of sun god he was the creator—Demiurgus and Logos—and in this phase he combats and overcomes Tiamat or evil chaos, as the heavenly spirit in Genesis broods over the abyss of darkness—this idea is reproduced in another Babylonian legend, in which Bel cuts the women Omorka, or primitive matter, in halves, and forms heaven and earth of the pieces. We can readily understand that on the promulgation of the doctrine that the gods were originally men whose virtue had raised them to the skies, the heroic deeds of Bel were related as those of a giant over natural foes, and that the first of the gods became the first man, equivalent to Adam. And so we find that, in company with his wife Beltis (Eve), he preceded the antediluvian rule of the ten zodiac gods. But Bel was, as the highest abstraction of deity, himself hermaphrodite, NAT: URE 31 and in that sense active heaven and passive earth—light and darkness. He is thus the dragon-slayer and the great serpent itself, a fact which will account for the two personifications being the objects of a joint worship equivalent to the linga-yoni worship of India. To the getting up of the work we have nothing to object except as regards the illustrations, which, though fair, scarcely reach that standard which the excellence of the text deserves. Debited, however, with any faults which it may contain, a large balance remains to the credit of its learned author, and if he has not succeeded in producing an exhaustive treatise upon his subject, his volumes are undoubtedly a most valuable contribution to Demonology, and we trust they may meet with the success to which they are unquestionably entitled. OUR BOOK SHELF Fauna der Gaskohle und der Kalksteine der Perinforma- tion Bohmens. Von Dr. Ant. Fritsch, Band i. Heft i. (Prague, 1879.) THE accomplished professor of zoology, in the univer- sity of Prague, publishes in this part, which consists of ninety-two folio pages and twelve beautiful plates, descrip- tions of the sections of the rocks whence the fossils were derived, lists of the fossils, anda careful résumé of the literature of the extinct amphibia, which are usually jymbled up together under the term Labyrinthodontia. The most valuable part of the work is an elaborate description of the new forms which abound in the strata overlying the Silurians, in a region where the Pilsner district may be considered typical. The Gaskohle there yielded a very rich fauna and flora of twenty-one new labyrinthodont species, some Orthacanthoids and species of Xenacanthus, Acanthodes, and Palzoniscus ; besides Estheria, portions of Orthoptera and Julus. The plants named by O. Feistmantel were numerous and the few typical Permian forms are :—£guwisetites contractus, Neuropteris imbricata, Odontopteris obtusiloba, and Schlotheimi, As- terocarpus Geinttziz, Schiitzia anomala, and Walchia piniformis. With these are Sigillaria, Stigmaria, Volk- mannia, Calamites, Lepidodendra, &c. The new am- phiban genus Branchiosaurus is represented by five species in the whole district, Sparodus by two, Hylo- nomus by the same number, and there is a form called Dawsonia. In noticing the family Branchiosauride Dr. Fritsch draws attention to the necessity of allowing the name Stegocephali to replace that of the Laby- rinthodontia for the order, as the labyrinthic con- dition of the teeth is not seen in skulls in which the supra-occipitals are two distinct ossifications, where there are post-orbital and supra-temporal bones, as well as well-developed epiotics, a sclerotic ring being present. The family just alluded to are broad-headed salamander-looking things with smooth teeth with large cavities. They have short ribs, vertebra with relics of the chorda, and the parasphenoid is in the shape of a broad plate, which narrows in front. The skin is covered with delicate ornamented scales, and the remains of branchial rays are present. One of these, Branchiosaurus sala- mandroides, already described by the author, is carefully illustrated, and is a form well worth studying. Its osteology is plainly given, and the remnants of the breast plate and of the shoulder girdle and pelvis also, The new genus Sparodus has remarkably broad bones, which may be vomers, which carry numerous conical teeth, and the fore part of the parasphenoid is short and broad, and the palatines have a row of teeth on them. Allied to Hylerpeton, Owen, and Batrachiderpeton, Hancock, Sparodus has about seventeen teeth in the lower jaw 32 NATURE [WVov. 13, 1879 on either side and the front ones are double the size of the others. The genus Dawsonia, allied more or less to Hylonomus, Dawson, is also one of those broad frog- headed salamandroid-looking branchiate amphibia. The sculpturing of the head plates is remarkable, and there appears to be anew bone interpolated behind the post- frontal. Beneath, the vomers have teeth, and so have the long part of the pre-sphenoid, the outer portions of the pterygoids, the palatines, superior-maxillaries, and the pre-maxillaries. The clearly written book is made all the more valuable by the introduction of Miall’s reports to the British Association on the labyrinthodonts, and it is pleasing to note the author's graceful recognition of the assistance, he has had in his work from British palzon- tologists. P. M. D. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR [Zhe Editor does not hold himself responsible for opinions expressed by his correspondents. Neither can he undertake to return, or to correspond with the writers of, rejected manuscripts, No notice is taken of anonymous communications, [Zhe Editor urgently requests correspondents to keep their letters as short as possible. The pressure on his space is so great that it is impossible otherwise to ensure the appearance even of com- munications containing interesting and novel facts.] An Account of some Marine Animals met with ex rouse to the Cape September 21, 22 I AM commanded by my Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty, to transmit herewith a copy of a letter from the commanding officer of H.M.S. Crocodile, giving an account of some marine animals met with ex route to the Cape, which may be of some interest to the readers of NATURE. Admiralty, November 10 RoBERT HALL H.M.S. Crocodile, Simon’s Bay September 30, 1879 Srr,—I think the following statement may be of some scientific interest, and have the honour to request that it may be attached to my letter of proceedings of this day’s date. Between the Lat. of 3° 33, S., and Long, 0 o Ee and between the hours of moon setting and daylight on the nights of September 21 and 22, the condensers were continually heating, and the vacuum gauge suddenly dropping to zero. On examination of strainers, it appeared that the inlet to the sea-water was choked with a marine animal to an extent that necessitated stopping and clearing four times on the night of the 21st inst., and five times on the night of the 22nd inst. On referring to Dallas’s ‘‘ Natural History,” the description given of the Pyrosoma, class Tunicata, order Ascidia, corre- sponded in all apparent particulars to the specimens I fished up from alongside and took from off the strainers, Those on the strainers were, of course, much flattened by the pressure, and those that had passed through were much attenuated, The luminosity of the creatures was very great, and of a most brilliant sapphire colour, I have, &c., (Signed) F, Propy Doucuty, Captain To Commodore Richards, A.D.C., Cape of Good Hope Easter Island As the reviewer of Australasia in NATURE, vol. xx. p. 598, I must ask space for a few further words with regard to Rapanui. Mr. Albert J. Mott draws conclusions with regard to the ancient nayigation of the Pacific Ocean and a former condition of high civilisation of the erectors of the stone images, which will not be admitted .by any scientific ethnologist. The difficulties attending the erection by savages, or very slightly civilised people all over the world, of large stones has been greatly over- rated, In the case of the stone images of Easter Island, the latest observer, M. A, Pinart, who has paid great attention to this very question and published the fullest account of the matter, together with a series of excellent illustrations, finds no difficulty in accounting for their erection. He writes as fol- lows :—‘‘ L’ensemble de ce vaste atelier de statues gigantesques les unes entitrement terminées les autres 4 l'état d’ebauche et en voie d'exéeution nous permet de nous rendre compte de la facon dont le travail était accompli, et de la maniére dont elles étaient érigées et mise en place aprés Teur complet achévement, L’exécution de ce travail qui de prime abord parait considérable, qui 4 tout étonné les voyageurs et sugedre de nombreuses hypotheses, est cependant d’une grande simplicité.” M. Pinart then goes on to explain how the sculptures were always cut out on rocks considerably inclined, and slid down hill to the place assigned, where they were tilted by means of an inclined plane of earth and stones built up, into holes dug deep enough to bury all but the head of each statue. I must refer readers wishing for more detailed information to M, Pinart’s paper, ‘‘ Voyage 4 l’Ile de Paques,” Le Zour du Monde, 1878, p- 225, No. 927, for drawing my attention to which I am indebted to the librarian of the Royal Geographical Society, Mr. Rye. The population of Easter Island was by some earlier voyagers estimated at as high as 1,500. It may have been greater, and as many as 500 men would certainly not be required for the erection of any of the images, There was undoubtedly a good deal of wood in the island in old times, and thus rollers and levers would be made use cf, The trees of the island have now been exterminated by the inhabitants. Palmer speaks of a peculiar ges'ure of the modern Rapanui natives which he compares with certain features inthe images, It is the opinion of experts that the general appearance of the sculptured faces is decidedly Polynesian, as far as mode of artistic treatment is concerned. Mr. Mott’s conclusion that the existence of these images proves that a nation formerly existed which navi- gated ships to Easter Island at regular intervals, and kept the place going as a colony, will be regarded as simply absurd by any one who knows anything of the science of navigation, So small and so isolated an island as Rapanui could only be reached by navigators who had a very advanced knowledge of astronomy and navigation, and were provided with instruments of great precision, and who had determined the position of the island on maps with exact correctness, No Chinese, Japanese, In- dian, or Arab navigators could have hit on the island except by accident. An exact determination of longitude, as well as of latitude is involved in the matter. A mere knowledge of the compass with even as good information concerning its variations as we now possess would not avail. The island was discovered by Roggeveen on April 5, 1722; in 1764 Commodore Byron, with two ships, sought for the island in vain; in 1766 Bougainville, with two French ships of war, sought for it also in vain; in 1767 Capt. Cartaret made the same attempt with a similar result. It was only on March I1, 1774, that Capt. Cook found the island again, and Mr. Mott would have us believe that persons who were by the undoubted evidence of their artistic capabilities and method of treatment of the human figure in sculpture, savages, were able to accom- plish, as often as they wished, a feat of navigation which baffled some of the best European navigators of the eighteenth century, Even at the present day so difficult is the determination of longitude to persons not specially trained as expert navigators that the island of Bermuda, and even the Virgin Islands have been more than once reported as ‘‘ gone down” by merchant captains who could not find them. ; With regard to Mr. Mott’s ‘‘gentle protest” against my statement that ‘the accepted scientific’ position is that primitive man was savage,” no protest, whether gentle or otherwise, will alter the fact that such is the case ; but it is quite superfluous to enter into a discussion here on the general theory of evolution, in accordance with which that position is maintained, H. N. MoseLey Silurian Fossils in the Curlew Mountains I BEG to state that the paragraph which occurs in NATURE, vol, xx. p. 641, that Silurian fossils have been found in beds amongst the Curlew Mountains ‘‘ supposed to be old red sand- stone,” is not quite correct. It was very well known in this office that the beds containing the fossils were of the Silurian formation— though erroneously included within the boundary line of the old _ red sandstone in the Survey Map, sheet 76, Since the map was engraved, the district to the north and east has been surveyed, and a large fault was discovered, ranging in the direction of the spot where the Silurian fossils have been found. The occurrence of this fault explains the presence of the beds with Silurian fossils within the area of the tract coloured as old red sandstone. There is, therefore, nothing in the announcement in your paper of the slightest novelty, and I have only to state that if the writer hall o Nov, 13, 1879] NATURE 33 of the paragraph had communicated with myself previously to ‘rushing into print,” he would have reccived such information as would have prevented him giving publicity to a statement which however literally correct, is errone us in essence. % EpwarD HUuLL, Director of the Geological Survey . of Ireland Geological Survey of Ireland, Dublin, November 6 [We were indebted for the note to ihe courtesy of Mr. Kinahan, of the Geological Survey of Ireland.—E£p.] Lunar Ring WHILE experimenting on the actenic power of lunar light on August 30 last (period of full moon), at 9.30 p.M., I obtained, with a minute-and-a-half exposure, a photographic negative of the moon, which shows a distinct and well-defined ring or glory around it which was not visible to the naked eye on looking directly at the moon in a clear and cloudless sky, nor was there any halo on the ground glass of the camera, nor on the lens, at the time of observation This is a copy of it from the negative. I used no clock-work arrangement with the camera, but allowed the moon to traverse the plate,-and I have since then taken several photographic observations under various conditions, I have taken the moon in all her phases, with long and short exposures, in clear and cloudless sky, and never could get a ring even faintly defined. I have also heated the camera and screwed the cold lens into it, carried it into a colder atmosphere in order to produce condensation of dew. I have placed two small separate openings in front of the lens; on one occasion I dusted puff-ball spores upon the lens ; on another I breathed warm breath upon it, but never got anything but decided burr, which was always densest near the limb of the moon and gradually tapered away towards the circumference like a bright light seen through a thick fog, but no appearance of ring. I have also taken observations when scud was passing rapidly over the moon, when perfect prismatic halos were visible to the naked eye, but no ring was ever impressed on the photographs ; nothing more than a haze, such as that produced by breathing on the lens. The next full moon (September 29) was totally obscured, so that I failed to get an observation then; but last evening _ (October 29), at 10 p.m., I was fortunate to get one fine, clear exposure of one-and-a-half minute, and was pleased to see a clear and well-defined ring rise up on the plate during develop- ment, similar in every respect to that obtained on August 29, showing, clearly that this unusual appearance is dependent upon the position of the moon in her orbit, she being in opposition when she manifests ring-giving power and shows us a crown, But why is this? What is the cause of this unusual, and, I believe, hitherto undescribed, appearance? . Why should this ring be invisible to the naked eye and yet give. a luminous im- pression on a photographic plate? Why should it appear only ‘at full moon period and not at any other phase? Can it have any connection with what Mr. Newall saw. round Mars through his huge telescope? If the moon had an atmosphere similar to that of the earth, and a star of some magnitude were otculted by the moon at that particular time, it is possible that its light in ‘passing through the lunar atmosphere mizht be refracted so as to show a corona round the moon ; but it is pretty generally acknowledged that there is no atmosphere surrounding it, there- fore there can be no refraction. Saag’ It might be that the solar rays in passing through the upper regions of the earth’s atmosphere are so defracted, that the ultra- violet rays (though invisible) are thus rendered visible. It is also possible that the doubly-reflected Junar light (the ashy light), in passing back to the moon from the earth, en- ‘counters on its passage the reflected solar rays,from the moon, arresting and nullifying in proportion to its strength, so much of the light preceeding from the moon thereby causing a clear Space around the moon-limb, a region of inertia, while the reflection from the disk of the earth, being larger than the moon’s réflecting disk, will show itself as a ring on the cuter edge of, the neutral zone, much in the same manner as two heliographic reflectors would act if they were so arranged as to throw their respective reflections directly into and upon each other, the one being small and the other larger, just as the moon is the smaller and the earth the larger body, the smaller body reflecting a smaller, brighter light, while the larger body would reflect from its broader disk a less brilliant light with a feebler force, yet not so feeble as to prevent it arresting an amount of force equal to itself, GrorGe BERWICK Sunderland, October 30 [Dr. Berwick’s explanation appears ‘scarcely sound for it involves the assumption that a ray of light meeting another can arrest it; and also it involves the visibility of such rays while traversing space. We would remark that faint halos due to atmospheric causes are often seen almost masked by the bright- ness of a full moon, and the photograph being over-exposed, so far as the moon is concerned, does not show the relative actinic brightness of moon and halo. Would Dr, Berwick try further experiments with shorter exposures, and also ascertain from a number of photographs how far on either side of full moon. a halo can be photographed, and whether it is always present during similar periods ?—Ep.] Phosphorescence A FEW days ago my attention was drawn to the phosphorescence of some fish (haddock) just received from the coast. The light was most brilliant about the fins and inside of the fish, which had been gutted. A spectroscope of low dispersive power showed all the light to belong to the green part of the spectrum. Approxi- mate measures gave 557°5 (mm.) and 488°4 as_the extreme wave- lengths, the part from 557°5 to 503°4 being somewhat brighter than the remainder, with a feebly indicated maximum at 527°6. In the hope of getting a brighter spectrum the fish were washed in as small a quantity of water as possible. This water became highly phosphorescent, and when agitated in a bowl, gave beautiful luminous caustics, but neither in the bowl nor in a glass trough, nor in-a tube of half-inch bore, did the liquid give a brighter spectrum than that afforded by the fish. A large bubble of air was inclosed with the liquid in the tube. When the tube was violently agitated, it became luminous from end to end ; if then held vertically, the light rapidly faded except near the top of the liquid, but on suddenly inverting the tube, the bubble of air slowly ascended, causing the whole contents of the tube to phosphoresce very brilliantly. This was a most striking phenomenon. After the lapse of some nine hours, the liquid had almost entirely lost the power of giving light. The Observatory, Dunecht, Aberdeen, November 5 RALPH COPELAND The ‘‘False Dawn” For some time past certain considerations had led me gradually to infer that the ‘‘ False Dawn” of the very extensive literature of Islam, whether Arabic, Persian, or Turkish, &c., and whether prose or verse, is another name for the ‘* Zodiacal Light.” No dictionary yet published so explains it. I submitted my ideas and reasons to a number of English and foreign astronomers -and linguists. All expressed their con- currence in those views; but direct proof of their,correctness was not at once forthcoming. Recently, however, through the kindness of the Hydrographer to the Admiralty, a mo-t obliging effort was made to solve this question by Capt. Wharton, commanding H.M.S. /uwn, now cruising in the Sea of Marmora. The method employed by that officer, and its conclusive result, cannot be better described than by giving his own words as follows :— ‘ H.M.S. Fawn, Tuzla Bay, September 26, 1879 Dear Capt. Evans, For the information of Mr. Redhouse; I haye to tell you that I can’satisfactorily answer his question as to the false dawn of the Turks. : On the morning of the 2oth instant, at 3.30 A.M., I went toa thosque at Buyukdere, and interviewed the Imaum, who, on being asked for the ‘‘fejri kyazib,”? at once pointed out the zodiacal light, then brightly shining in the east. . . , There can be no doubt as to the coincidence of the two. : , / . Yours sincerely, Mh eid® W. J. L. WHARTON iF ejri Kyazib” is the Arabic expression for “‘ the false dawn.”? 3t NATURE [WMov. 13, 1879 This preliminary philological question being thus irrefragably settled, I wish to bring to the knowledge of English and western astronomers the fact that, though the zodiacal light was first distinctly noticed in England in 1661, and named in France by Cassini, in about 1683, the ‘‘ false dawn” was known to the Arabians in the days of Muhammad, who is said by the com- mentators in the 183rd verse of Chap, II. of thesQur’an, to have there legislated on the subject as follows, when he instituted the diurnal fast of the Ramazan in the second year of the Hijra (A.D. 624) : ** And eat and drink until the lighter streak of the dawn shall become distinguishable unto you from the darker streak.” Commentators, and, after them, the most highly esteemed Arabic dicticnary, the Sihah of Jawhari, who died in A. H. 397 (A.D. 1006) explains the expression ‘‘ the lighter streak,” as meaning ‘‘the true dawn,” and, ‘‘the darker streak” as signi- fying ‘‘the false dawn,” Here, then, is incontrovertible proof that the zodiacal light, under its Arabic name of ‘‘the false dawn” was explicitly mentioned 650 years, and implicitly, 1,000 and odd years, before western observers had noticed the phenomenon, This is a point deserving special consideration by all who may in future write a history of the progress of discovery in respect to the zodiacal light. To how much older a time than that of Muhammad, a knowledge of the light may be hereafter traced, is a question that I leave with confidence to those who so fruit- fully investigate the fragmentary records of antiquity. I should imagine that no one will suppose Muhammad was the first to take notice of an appearance that is, at times, much brighter than the ‘‘ milky way.” Another suggestion has also arisen in my mind, of a far wider interest, in connection with my discovery. It is this :— Modern western Sanskrit scholars have inclined to the idea that the high A/ateau of Pamir, which separates Chinese from Independent Tartary, and the Indus from the Jaxartes, was the primeval cradle of the whole Aryan race. Physically and historically, this hypothesis seems to be utterly untenable, though my reasons would be out of place here, The zodiacal light would appear to confirm my objection, From the latitude of Pamir, the zodiacal light is a very conspicuous object there, and sure to be noticed by a nation of shepherds, nomads, warriors, and commercial caravan travellers, Had the various Aryan races all come from Pamir, they would have brought thence a knowledge of the zodiacal light, as they all brought the word ‘‘ yoke” with them from the land whence they radiated. How comes it, then, that in ancient times as in modern, no Aryan, not even after Alexander had nearly reached Pamir, and the Ptolemies had reigned in Egypt for centuries, ever observed or mentioned this phenomenon? My conjectural answer is this: The Aryan race came originally from a northern land, where the zodiacal light is rarely and but dimly visible, radiating from thence as they have done all through the historical period, and as their rearmost representatives, the Slavs, are persistently striving to radiate still to climes more favoured than their own, J. W. REDHOUSE London, November 5 The Caudal Disk Tue following may throw some light on the use of the caudal disk er ae by many of the Uropeltidze (ede NATURE, vol. Xx. p. 538) :— When in the Wynaad, in September, 1875, I captured, at the foot of the Nilgiri Hills, a Silybura, referred, I think, by Col. Beddome to the species, Nilgiriensis, This snake I took down to Mangalore, and kept alive until the succeeding March, when it was unfortunately killed by ants. When caught it was working its way through grass by the road-side, and made violent efforts to escape, striking my hand repeatedly with the pointed terminal scales, by throwing back its tail. I am uncertain whether to view this action as defensive or not. It may have been the result of the snake’s struggles, but it is noticeable that the movement was vertical and not horizontal. I had but few opportunities of investigating the matter, for in a few days the snake became so used to being handled that it would make no efforts to escape. It was kept in a box filled with earth to the depth of some six inches, and during day-time never was to be seen, but at night came to the surface regularly, and was then much less sluggish than in the day, When taken out of the earth, it would at once commence to bury itself by forcing its pointed snout downwards, and alternately expanding and contracting the thick -anterior portion of the body. The motion was “exactly that of a worm, and the posterior portion of the body and the tail were dragged slowly after by longitudinal contraction, and were not actively used, During the burrowing process there were occasional pauses of that part of the body above ground, but from the movements of the earth it was evident that the snake was still progressing. So sensitive was the skin that the gentlest breath would hasten the withdrawal of the body, but so soon as the caudal disk was level with the surface the snake would retain it in that position for a long time, sometimes half an hour and more. The numerous keels on the scales of the disk carried a certain amount of earth; the disk invariably remained in the same plane as the ground’s surface, exactly filling the hole, and it was therefore almost impossible to detect the snake, without close examination. These facts suggested to me the idea of the disk being pro- tective, and I therefore, on numerous occasions, unearthed the snake and watched it burrow, always with the same result—the steady withdrawal of the sensitive portion of the body, and the retention of the disk at the surface for a longer or shorter period, I do not know what are the chief enemies of Uropeltidze, but possibly certain carnivorous birds prey on them, If so, it is conceivable that the earth-covered disk would secure the snake and its hole from observation, until the head had worked suff- ciently far underground to admit of the tail being at once with- drawn, beyond reach of beak or claw. This is quite possible from the power these snakes possess of extending themselves, a power well displayed if one of them be held firmly in both hands, E, H. PRINGLE P. and O. S.S. Pekin, Gibraltar, October Intellect in Brutes THE Duke of Argyll in his ‘‘ Reign of Law” was, I think, the first who promulgated the dictum that man is the only tool- making animal, As far as I can ascertain, this assertion is admitted by developmentists, yet it is undoubtedly true that the Indian elephant makes two imlements, or forms and alters cer- tain things so as to adapt them specially to fulfil definite purposes, for which, unaltered, they would not be suitable. One evening soon after my arrival in Eastern Asam, and while the five elephants were as usual being fed opposite the Bungalow, I observed a young and lately caught one step up to a bamboo-stake fence and quietly pull one of the stakes up. Placing it under foot, it broke a piece off with the trunk, and after lifting it to its mouth, threw it away, It repeated this twice or thrice, and then drew another stake and began again. - Seeing that the bamboo was old and dry, I asked the reason of this, and was told to wait and see what it would do, At last it seemed to get a piece that suited, and holding it in the trunk firmly, and stepping the left fore-leg well forward, passed the piece of bamboo under the armpit, so to speak, and began to scratch with some force. My surprise reached its climax when I saw a large elephant leech fall on the ground, quite six inches long and thick as one’s finger, and which, from its position, could not easily be detached without this scraper, or scratch, which was deliberately made by the elephant. I subsequently found that it was a common occurrence. Leech-scrapers are used by every elephant daily, On another occasion, when travelling at a time of year when the large flies are so tormenting to an elephant, I noticed that the one I rode had no fan or wisp to beat them off with. The mahout, at my order, slackened pace and allowed her to go to the side of the road, where for some moments she moved along rummaging the smaller jungle on the bank ; at last she came to a cluster of young shoots well branched, and after feeling among them, and selecting one, raised her trunk and neatly stripped down the stem, taking off all the /ower branches and leaving a fine bunch on top. She deliberately cleaned it down several times, and then laying hold at the lower end broke off a beauti- ful fan or switch about five feet long, handle included. With this she kept the flies at bay as we went along, flapping them off on each side every now and then, Say what we may, these are both really Jord fide implements, each intelligently made for a definit> purpose. S. E, PEAL Nov. 13, 1879] A COCHIN-CHINA REMEDY FOR LEPROSY A NOTE in NATURE (vol. xxi. p. 19) refers toa remedy for leprosy, obtained from Cochin-China, but the origin of which is imperfectly known. Its name is given as Awang-nao. In Mr. Consul Tremlett’s Report (For. Off. Repts. No. 21, p. 1237) it appears as hoang-nau. We have taken a good deal of trouble about this drug at Kew, and the inclosed extract from the Kew Report for 1877, p. 31, contains all that has been positively ascer- tained about it at present :— “ Hodng-nan, a Supposed Remedy for Leprosy.—Mx. Prestoe, Superintendent of the Trinidad Botanic Garden, has drawn my attention to some accounts given in Les Missions Catholigues for 1875, describing the surprising efficacy of a drug, the produce of a plant found in Cochin- China, in the treatment of leprosy and rabies. The plant is known by the name of Hodng-nan, and the description, which is of the vaguest kind, represents it as a climber, and its bark as the efficacious portion. ““M. L. Pierre, the Director of the Botanic Garden at Saigon, has obtained an imperfect specimen of the Hoang-nan, and informs me that he identifies it as a new species of S¢rychnos, which he hasnamed S. gautheriana, in honour of the ecclesiastic who first gave the virtues of the Hoang-nan a wider publicity. “M. Pierre adds some remarks which appear to me worthy of placing on record :—‘The bark of Strychunos nux-vomica is regarded in Cambodia and Siam as a poison no less certain than that extracted from the seeds. The natives have remarked the fact, which is also believed to hold good in the case of cinchonas, that the bark has ‘the most powerful properties when it has been covered with moss or otherwise protected from the action of light.’ Tn collecting the bark great attention is paid in conse- quence to the circumstances under which it has been produced.” W. T. THISELTON DYER SOME POINTS IN THE HISTORY OF SPECTRUM ANALYSIS? ay PHYSICAL problem begins like a rivulet, At its first introduction it is small and seemingly unimpor- tant—constantly however, as it winds along it receives ‘accessions from various quarters until at length it becomes a mighty river that is finally merged in the unfathomable ocean. This course is followed by all such problems. Each begins small—grows broader and will finally bear us on to the unknown if we trust ourselves to its guid- ance. I need hardly remind you that the demonstration of the decomposition of white light was one of the triumphs of the illustrious Newton. But like other problems it had its small beginning. We find in one of the earliest me- moirs of the Royal Society, a paper on -“ The Genuine Method of Examining the Theory of Light and Colours,’ by Mr. Newton. Here he asks amongst others, the following questions ;— (1) Whether rays that are alike incident on the same medium, have unequal refractions ? (2) Whether rays endued with particular degrees of refrangibility, when by any means separated, have particular colours constantly belonging to them, viz., the least refrangible scarlet, the most refrangible deep violet, the middle sea green ; and others other colours ? (3) Whether colours by coalescing do really change one another to produce a new colour, or produce it by mixing only? (4) Whether ‘a due mixture of rays, endued with all variety of colours, produces light perfectly like that of the sun? and he ends by remarking that the most proper and direct way to a conclusion is to determine such queries by * Being an address delivered by Dr. B. Stewart, F.R.S., at the opening of the present session, to the Natural Philosophy Classes at Owens College. NATURE 35 experiment. Then follow some objections to the theory of light and colour, by the Rev. F. Pardies and Mr. Newton’s reply to these objections. Into the nature of these however, it is not my purpose to enter. _Let me rather adopt Newton’s suggestion and bring the experi- ment itself before you. You areall, no doubt, familiar with the operations of the photographer, and as a matter of fact you know that when the light from a natural object is made to pass through his lens an image of this object is impressed upon the sensitive plate placed at the focus at the other side of the lens. If the natural object be a friend’s face you obtain his photograph, if it be a tree, you get the image of the tree, if it should be a bright slit of light or a bright wire you would get the image of the slit of light or of the wire. Now here we have a slit which is rendered luminous by an intense light thrown upon it, and if we place a photo- grapher’s lens before it we shall obtain an image of the slit. You see the image thrown upon a screen and you see moreover that the light is white ; it is in fact the electric light which illumines the slit. For the machine by which this light is produced our college is indebted to the gener- osity of Mr. Wilde. But my object is not now to discuss the electric light, but to show you that it is white and like the light of the sun—since, as you see, its image on the screen is white. Let us now interpose a prism or train of prisms between the lens and the screen. These prisms will dotwo things. In the first place they will bend the rays towards the base or thick part of the prisms so that in order to catch the image the screen must be moved in this direction. But in the second place they will bend some rays more than others ;—if the slit be lighted by pure red light it will be least bent, if by orange, this will be more bent than the red, if by yellow this will be more bent than the orange, then follow. green, blue, indigo, and violet, the latter of which is most bent. Now if the light behind the slit be a mixture of red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet, we shall have a series of images of the slit overlapping one another, and forming a long ribbon of light of which the portion least bent will be coloured red and that which is most bent will be violet.. Let us now see what we get from the light we are using. Here you see we have all the colours of the rainbow, red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet, and therefore our light must contain all these; but our light was white like that of the sun and thus you see we are entitled to say that white light is composed of a mixture of these various colours. In fact what we have done by the prism has been to separate these various constituent rays from one another and throw one on one part of the screen and the other on another part. But now if we make these various con- stituents to dance so quickly before our eyes that we get a united impression of the whole, we shall imagine once more that we have white light. We separated the rays in space—let us now combine them in time—and you see the thing is white. We have thus demonstrated the com- position of white light after the way by which the chemist proves the composition of water, first decomposing it by the battery into oxygen and hydrogen, and then causing these two gases once more to recombine. I will now remind you that light consists of waves or undulations given out by the luminous body. These waves take place in a medium called ether, surrounding us all, in which they proceed with incredible swiftness. The light given out by a luminous particle may thus be compared to the note or notes given out bya bell. In solids and liquids however the particles are so closely packed together that they may be likened to a number of different bells all tied together in such a way that the total mass is capable of giving out every, or almost every, variety of note. From an incandescent solid or liquid body, when sufficiently hot, you thus get every variety of light, and 36 NATURE [Nov. 13, 1879 | it is particles of carbon, probably in the solid state, that in the electric light afford us every variety of ray so as to enable us to get from them a continuous spectrum. When, however, we go from solid and liquid particles to those of a gaseous nature, we find the various molecules so far apart that each one is unconstrained by its neigh- bour ; it is thus like a bell left to itself, in which case it gives out its own peculiar kind of light just as a bell, left to itself, will give out its own peculiar note. I will now show you on the screen the various rays or luminous notes given out by particles of incandescent vapour of silver. We thus see what is the spectroscopic difference between solids or liquids, and gases, the former when sufficiently heated giving out a continuous spectrum con- sisting of ail different rays of light, the latter a discon- tinuous spectrum consisting of only a few different rays. The next point to which I will call your attention is a ‘very important one. A particle when cold or compara- tively cold absorbs those very-rays which it gives out when hot. Now it is known that incandescent vapour of the metal sodium, gives out under certain conditions a peculiar monochromatic yellow light, which we call the double line D. This light is so strictly monochromatic that all bodies under its illumination appear either yellow or black, as you will see by the following experiment. Now suppose we take the electric lamp, the carbon points ‘of which, as you already know, give out all kinds of iight, and suppose we place between these points a piece of metallic sodium ; while this sodium is in the act of being volatilised, and its vapour comparatively cold, you will see ‘that it will stop one particular kind of light, and will thus cause a black line. When, however, the vapour is suffi- ciently hot, this black line will be changed into a bright yellow one. You thus see that when we have an incan- descent body which gives us all rays, and when between it and the eye we insinuate some comparatively cold sodium vapour, we get a certain definite black absorption line. Now the curious point is that the sun’s light gives us this black line, so that if I could replace the electric light by the sun, I should have a black line thrown upon the screen in the very position where you saw it when the sodium was introduced. This means that between the source of the sun-light and the eye, we have sodium vapour in a comparatively, ‘remember only comparatively, cold state, and as this vapour is certainly not in the earth’s atmosphere, it can only be in the atmosphere of thesun. I need not tell you that although colder than the particles beneath it which give us sun light, it must be in reality very hot. Thedis- covery that there was vapour of sodium in the atmosphere of the sun was due to Stokes, and it has since been found out by Kirchhoff that we have black lines in sun light cor- ‘responding in position with the bright lines of iron vapour, the bright lines of hydrogen, the bright lines of mag- nesium vapour, and the bright lines of many other elements, and we may therefore assume as Kirchhoff assumed, as a first and approximative hypothesis, that ‘the vapours of iron, magnesium, hydrogen, &c., as well as that of sodium exist in a comparatively cold state in the atmosphere of our luminary ;--more recent work by Hug- gings and ovhers has shown that the same remark applies to the atinospheres of many other stars. You thus see that there are two ways by means of which the chemical composition, or rather perhaps the atomic strutture of bodies may be indicated by the spec- trum. Ata comparatively low temperature this structure will be indicated through the lines that are absorbed or rendered black, while at acomparatively high temperature it will be indicated by the bright lines that are given out. "Thus at a comparatively low temperature a solution which contains blood will indicate the presence of this substanse -by certain very peculiar black lines. Blood, however, is easily decomposed by a high temperature, and accordingly when such is applied we no longer get the bright equivalents of these black lines, but something very different, namely, the bright lines of iron, and of those other elements into which blood is decomposed as ~ the temperature is raised. In short when raising the temperature of a substance its black lines will be con- verted into bright ones only in those cases where no molecular change has taken place between the two tem- peratures. Even in the case of elements like: sodium Roscoe and Schuster have shown that the absorption spectrum at a low temperature is different from, and more complex than, the radiant spectrum at a high temperature, and other elements have been tried in this way by Lockyer and others with similar results. We may imagine with much propriety that the molecule of sodium vapour at a low temperature is a larger and more complex structure than it is at a high temperature, where the splitting up or dissociating agency of heat has been freely employed. _ We come at last to the important question which it is my object to discuss, Has a study of the spectrum thrown any light on the ultimate constitution of matter, or is it likely to do so? You are aware that chemists and physicists have begun to speculate as to the possibility that the so-called elements may be in reality nothing more than combina- tions differing in numbers and in tactical arrangement, of some one kind of primordial atoms. } This idea was first entertained by Dr. Prout, the well- known physician and chemist. He pointed out that the atomic weights of the so-called elements are very nearly all multiples of the half of that of hydrogen, so that the various elements may possibly be looked upon as formed by a grouping together of certain atoms of half the mass of the hydrogen atom. ; M. Stas, the distinguished Belgian chemist, instituted a laborious series of experiments with the view of testing this doctrine. He came to the conclusion that the atomic weights of the various elements were not precisely multiples of the half of that of hydrogen, there being greater differences than could possibly be accounted for by errors of experiment. His researches, however, seemed to show that in many cases there was a very near approach to Prout’s imagined law. But here we must bear in mind the great difficulty, or indeed impossibility, of obtaining substances absolutely free from all impurities (indeed Dumas showed that oxygen forms part of the silver with which Stas worked), so that we may be excused from imagining that Stas has settled the point in the negative. We are thus driven to look to the spectrum as a likely means of throwing some light on this very interesting and important speculation. Let us now, therefore, endeavour to realise what would be the behaviour of the spectrum if the so-called elements were not capable of simplification, and also what would be its behaviour if they were, and then find with which of these two hypotheses the true behaviour of the spectrum agrees best. Now if the elements were absolutely simple bodies, we might still expect that the molecule of vapour of an element would be at a low temperature more com- plex than ata high one, and would therefore give out a more complex spectrum. As, however, the temperature was made to rise we might expect ultimately to obtain a certain spectrum which would represext the simplest mode of vibration of that element, and which would thenceforward remain, however much higher the tempera- ture should be made to mount. Lockyer has written much on this point and given many facts in support of this view. : : And again we should have no reason for supposing that the lines of the ultimate spectrum of one element should coincide in position with those of the ultimate spectrum of another element. If therefore we had a mixture of all the elements, and subjected this mixture toa: very high wih split up the so-called elements. - portions. Pie a oe) Se Lo * en a ¥ ¥ Nov. 1 3, 1879] NATURE 37 temperature, the resulting spectrum under the supposition that each element is really an element, would never be simpler than the combined spectra of the various elements. On the other hand, if the elements were really com- pounds of some one primordial atom, we might expect that a very high temperature would split up their atomic structure, and simplify their spectra, so that at an enormously high temperature a mixture of all the elements might nevertheless give us a very simple spectrum. We might likewise expect that different elements might split up into common constituents, so that ata very high temperature the spectra of these elements would have certain lines in common. It is in the larger masses of the Universe, the sun and stars that we must look to find a mixture of all kinds of matter at very high temperatures, and when we have a brilliant bluish-white star containing a large proportion of the more refrangible rays we have every reason for sup- posing this star to be at a very high temperature. Now such stars exhibit an extreme paucity in the black lines which appear in their spectra, in which there is hardly anything élse than certain prominent lines seen in the spectra of hydrogen, calcium, magnesium, and sodium. Lockyer, who has devoted great attention to this subject, argues therefore as follows. If it be true that as a rule the atmospheres of the whiter and presumably hotter stars ‘contain fewer elements and those of the smallest atomic weight and that as stars diminish in whiteness their atmospheres rise in complexity of structure this undoubt- edly tells in favour of the power of high temperature to He has quite recently carried this reasoning into another field. The Fraunhofer lines give us the integration of the absorptions of all the strata of the solar atmosphere. Now spot phenomena occur in a restricted stratum of this atmosphere, and this stratum is low and therefore hotter than the overlying We can tell the spectral lines special to a spot by their widening, and the number of lines widened is small in comparison with the Fraunhofer lines. Here again we have simplicity brought about by high tempera- ture in the low levels in the sun as in the stars hotter than the sun. Let us now ask whether the spectra of the various elements have or have not certain lines incommon. It used to be imagined that they had not. When, however, they have been examined under great dispersive power there has been found reason to qualify this assertion. There are certain lines in the spectra of each element which appear long and thick, their predominant notes as it were, and it has been found that while such a line for instance is exceedingly prominent in some one element other elements appear to possess it, only not nearly so prominently. Lockyer’s argument from this was that, on the assumption that the elements are truly elementary, the line in the other elements was caused by traces of impurity. He has, however, recently had reason to believe that there are coincidences between the spectra of the various elements not of thisnature. There are coincidences of lines which are not the prominent lines of any one spectrum and they give no signs of that variability of brightness that m‘ght be expected to characterise lines due to impurities. These lines he has called basic lines. As may be readily imagined in a branch of knowledge which is so new we shall have long to wait for facts. Hence we cannot test this con- clusion by referring to the spectra of stars. But Lockyer has already shown that we can test it by means of the spectra of sun-spots,and here the facts are certainly in support of it. The basic lines are more prominent in the spectra of spots than in the spectrum of the sun generally, and further they are more prominent at epochs of sun- spot maximum than during times of minimum. But we must have a clear conception of what we mean when we suppose that the so-called elements are split up at a very high temperature. If we apply a very powerful source of electricity we obtain certain peculiar lines from the vapour of calcium. Now if we could (like the Demon of Maxwell) catch hold of and .segregate—put into a box as it were all these minute entities that give us this suspicious line at a high temperature, and further if we could keep their high temperature up I think it is probable that we might obtain something which is not calcium, or at any rate, something simpler than the molecule of calcium as this appears at lower temperatures. But we are not yet able, and perhaps we may never be able, at an ordinary temperature to present the chemist with some other substance derived from calcium which is not calcium. To conclude there seems little doubt that spectrum analysis will, as ‘it advances, throw great light on the ultimate constitution of matter and it therefore justifies the remarks which I made at the commencement of this lecture. THE SWEDISH NORTH-EAST PASSAGE EXPEDITION oe A TOES have been received by Mr. Oscar Dickson, of Gothenburg, from Prof. Nordenskjéld, giving an account of the wintering of the Vega, down to April 1; letters from Lieut. Palander and other members of the North-East Passage Expedition have also been published, some of them bringing down the narrative to a Jater date. From these we gather the following particulars :— The Vega was frozen in on September 28, in 67° 7’ N. lat. and 173$° long. W. from Greenwich, at the northern- most extremity of Behring’s Straits. The land-in the neighbourhood forms an extensive slightly rolling plain, bounded on the south by gently-rising hills, which, farther into the interior, are said by the natives to reach a con- siderable height. The piain is occupied to a large extent by lagoons separated from the sea by low sandy beaches. When the Vega was frozen in, the ground was covered with hoar frost and frozen, but still free of snow, so that it was possible to form some idea of the flora of the region. Close to the beach, compact beds of Elymus were intermixed with carpets of Halianthus feploides; next there stretched a poor level gravelly plain, only covered - with a black lichen, Gyrophora proboseidea, and some few flowering plants, amongst which Armeria sibirica was the most common. South of this, again, was a tract occupied by lagoons and small lakes, whose shores were covered with luxuriant vegetation, consisting of grasses and Carices. On the neighbouring high ground, where the soil, derived from weathered strata of gneiss and dolerite, is richer, the vegetation is marked by greater variety. Here were thickets of willows, extensive carpets of Empetrum nigrum, and Andromeda tetragona, and large tufts of a species of Artemisia. Here were found also the frozen remains of the red whortleberry, the cloud- berry, /araxacum officinale, and other plants peculiar to the high north, In an excursion tothe interior on October 8, Lieut. Nordquist observed that on the driest parts of the ¢##dra the most common plants were Azra alpina and Poa alpina; on the lower places, Glyceria, pedicularis, and Ledum palustre. Petasites frigida and a species of Sa/#z occurred everywhere, the latter growing in large compact masses covering spots several hundred square fect in extent, the bushes in some places being 3 to 4 feet high. In the neighbourhood of. the Vega’s winter quarters” there were six small encampments, numbering from three. to twenty-five tents each, inhabited by Tchuktches to the number of about 200. With these natives there was much friendly intercourse. They were allowed free access to the deck from which, though covered with a multifarious +38 WA TORE [Mov. 13, 1879 wariety of articles, they did not remove the smallest trifle. They were not, however, altogether to be depended on in the statements they made regarding the articles they offered for sale. Thus, on several occasions what were represented to be hares were found to be dead foxes skinned and with the head and feet cut .off, and the natives expressed great astonishment at the instant dis- covery of the deception. When they had acquired a taste for European food, they bartered drift-wood and the bones of the whale for ship-biscuit, and the quantity dis- tributed partly in this way, partly as gifts, was so considerable as to contribute in no small degree to mitigate the famine that threatened to break out among the natives in mid-winter. None of them were Christian, nor could any of them speak any European language, except one or two who could say a couple of words in English or a word of salutation in Russian. Lieut. Nordquist studied their language with such zeal and success, that in a fortnight he could make himself pretty well understood. He has collected materials for a com- prehensive vocabulary. When the Vega was frozen in, the sea next the coast was covered with newly-formed ice, too thin to carry a foot-passenger but thick enough to prevent a boat from making any way. On October 3 the Tchuktches walked on board over the ice. Up to the 1oth there were weak places between the vessel and the land, and a blue sky in the east still indicated open water in that direction. On the 13th it was ascertained that a belt of drift ice-fields, compactly frozen together, at least thirty kilometres in breadth, lay between the )’ega and the open sea. The thickness of the newly-formed ice was measured by Lieut. Bruzewitz, with the following results :— The Thickness of the Lee On December ir... ... ... 56 centimetres. 97 MIADUALY. Keni tang cate oases 92 7 a February I... =) wee 108 a 3, February 15 120 aS 3, March 1 123 +3 », April 1 127 * »» May 1 154 ” ” June I 154 ” ” July q 103 ” ‘For a distance of about six kilometres from the shore the ice lay all winter nearly undisturbed, but farther out it was in continual motion. So-called polynia, or open places, says Nordenskjéld, probably occur here all the year round, and in favourable weather accordingly we could see almost constantly a blue water-sky from true north-west to east. A southerly wind in a few days brought the open water within a few hours’ walk of the vessel, It then swarmed with seals, which indicates that it was in connéction witha sea always open. The neigh- bourhood of such an open sea probably accounts for the fact that in the fields of drift-ice that surrounded the vessel there was not a seal-hole to be seen. On January 1 Lieut. Bove reached open water by a four hours’ walk. From the fact that from a hummock five metres high he could see no boundary to the open water towards the north-east and north, and from the extent of the water- sky in that direction, he concluded that the breadth of the open water was at least thirty-five kilometres. The depth at the edge of the ice was twelve fathoms, the tem- perature —2°C., The water ran at a considerable speed right from the coast (from south-south-east), apparently a tidal current. The open water swarmed with seals. No polar bear, no walrus, and no birds were seen. During the long-continued severe cold in the month of January, in the course of which the temperature several times fell below the freezing-point of mercury, the sea appears to have frozen completely for a great distance from the coast. but by February 7 mild weather again commenced, with variable and southerly winds. The same day a faint water-sky was seen at the horizon, Some kilometres to the east the beach was free of ice,. and from the heights on land the seamen observed a high sea in the blue streak of water which bounded the hori- zon. The open water thus appears to have been very extensive. The statement of the natives that it extended to Behring’s Straits was perhaps correct. The temperature during the wintering was as follows :— Minimum. Maximum. ee October -— 208 ... + 0°8 - 521 November won: P= QT EZy cea ema ae — 16°59. December ass) ws oSTak + 1'2 — 22°81 January ... ... .— 45°5 — Ags — 25°05 February... ... — 4378 +072 . — 25°08 Mare! ioc, a. — B00. 7 = oom — 21°65 April Bere Be OO ayn. BAL — 18°93 (Maly eh. ies. ese — 208 favs ot LO - 6°97 Jue Pr i es ROS ee On two occasions the barometer was uncommonly high, viz. : December 22, 6 A.M. 782'0 (0°) mm. February 17, 6 A.M, 788'1 (0°) mm. The lowest atmospheric pressure observed before April I was on December 31, 2 A.M. 728°8 (0°) mm, The weather during the winter was exceedingly stormy, and the direction of the wind near the surface of the earth was almost constantly between north-west and north-north-west. But in a stratum of air at no great height there prevailed, to judge from the motion of the clouds, a similar uninterrupted current from the south- east, which when it occasionally sank to the surface of the earth, brought with it heat and comparatively dry air. This is explained by Behring’s Straits forming a gate bounded by high hills between the warm atmospheric area of the Pacific, and the cold area of the Arctic Ocean. The winds must here arrange themselves approximately according to the same laws as the draught in the door- opening between a warm and /{a cold room. The cold stream of air must go below, and the warm above. The mountain heights which the natives say are to be found in: the interior of the Tchuktch Peninsula, besides, contri- bute to the heat and dryness of the southerly and south- easterly winds. For they give to the winds which pass over their summits the properties of the “fohn.’” The coldest winds have come from south-west to west, that is, from the Siberian Plain. On the existence of two currents of air which, at a certain height above the surface, contend with one another for the mastery, depends again the speed with which the sky in the neighbourhood of Behring’s Straits suddenly becomes cloudy and again completely clear. Nordenskjéld remarks that the fall of snow was not particularly great, but as there was no mild weather of any continuance during the winter, so that the snow was. never covered with any continuous crust, a considerable portion of the snow remained so loose that it was carried backwards and forwards by the Jeast puff of wind. With a storm or strong breeze, the snow was carried to higher’ strata of the air, which was so filled with the fine par-- ticles, that it was impossible to distinguish objects at the distance of a few yards. But even when the wind was. light and the sky clear, there went on a constant snow- storm a few inches in height along the surface of the ground in the direction of the wind, and so principally” from north-west to south-east, carrying an immense mass: of water in a frozen state over the north coast of Siberia to more southerly regions, and playing a sufficiently important part in a climatic respect, among others as a carrier of cold to the most northerly forests, to deserve- the attention of meteorologists. ra The most remarkable observations which the wintering of the Vega has yielded appear to relate to the aurora. Our voyage happened in one of the years, writes. Nov. 13, 1879] NATURE 39 eee ee EE ‘Nordenskjéld, of which it was known beforehand that it would be a minimum aurora year. Just this circumstance has, however, allowed me to study, in a specially suitable region, this natural phenomenon under uncommonly favour- able circumstances. For here the luminous arches, which also in Scandinavia generally form the starting-points of the ray-auroras, have shown themselves undimmed by the more splendid forms of the aurora, and one could thus devote one’s self to collect observations towards a clearing- up of the right nature of these arches undisturbed by accidental accompaniments. Referring for details to a paper he has sent home for publication in the Zyramsac- tions of the Swedish Academy of Sciences, he goes on to say that the aurora, during the winter 1878-79 never appeared with the splendid bands or draperies of rays so common in Scandinavia, but always in the form of faint luminous arches, which remained unaltered in position hour after hour and day after day. They were constantly visible when the sky was not clouded nor their feeble light dimmed by the rays of the sun or the full moon. The conclusions Nordenskjéld draws from numerous measure- ‘ments of the height, extent, and position of these arches are, that our globe, even during a minimum aurora year, is ornamented with a nearly constant corona or circle of light, single, double, or multiple, whose inner edge during the winter of 1878-79, had a height above the surface of the earth of about ;%5 of the earth’s radius, whose centre, the “aurora pole,” was situated on the vadius of the earth which touches the surface about 81° N. Jat. and 80° W. lat. (Greenwich), and which, with a dia- meter of o°3 of the earth’s radius, extended itself in a plane at right angles to the radius of the earth which touches the centre of the circle. This circle of light stands in the same relation to the ray- and drapery- auroras of Scandinavia as the trade-winds and monsoons in the south to the irregular winds and storms of the north. Its light is never distributed into rays, but resembles that which passes through obscured glass. When the aurora becomes stronger the extent of the circle of light is altered, double or multiple arches are visible, generally lying in the same plane and with a common centre, and rays are thrown out between the different bows. Arches are seldom seen lying irregularly to or crossing one another. The area within which the common arch is visible (on the supposition that it can no longer be distinguished when its altitude is only 4° above the horizon) is bounded by two circles drawn upon theearth’s surface with theaurora pole as the centre, by radii revolving round it at angles measured on the earth’s circumference -of 8° and 28°. It touches only to an inconsiderable extent dands inhabited by peoples of European origin (the northernmost part of Sweden, Norway, Finland, Iceland, and Danish Greenland), and even in the middle of this area there is a belt passing over the middle of Greenland, the south of Spitzbergen, and Franz Joseph’s Land, where the common bow commonly forms only a faint “veil” of light in the zenith. This belt separates the regions «vhere the luminous arches are seen mostly on the southern from those where they are seen mostly on the northern horizon. In the area nearest the aurora pole only the smaller, in the middle of Scandinavia only the larger and less regularly formed coronas are visible. But in the last-mentioned region, as in Southern British America, the aurora-storms and the ray- and drapery- auroras become common. The region where the aurora occurs in its most developed state is to be sought for near the circle which, with the aurora pole as a centre, as drawn on the surface of the earth with a radius at an -angle measured at the earth’s circumference of about 24°, The tidal observations, when compared with other -series made in the Arctic seas, give important indications xegarding the distribution of land and sea in the Polar basin. The greatest range at the Vega’s winter-quarters was only eighteen centimetres, which shows that the sea north of Behring’s Straits forms a marine basin of limited extent, connected with the ocean only by sounds. The variations in the height of the water, produced by winds, were much greater. They amounted nearly to two metres. Still greater irregular changes in the position of land and sea appear to have occurred within the memory of man. For the Tchuktches were at one time afraid that the Swedes would cause inundations along the coast. This appears to show that the sudden changes in the position of the earth which are well known in the volcanic regions farther south had extended so far noth. As most of the Tchuktch villages are situated close to the sea, one of the mighty waves which earthquakes give rise to would completely destroy an immense number of them. The magnetical observations made during the winter- ing, in an observatory built of ice and snow, which, being necessarily on land, was at a very inconvenient distance from the vessel, consisted of (1) absolute determinations whenever opportunity offered; (2) observations of the changes in the strength and direction of the magnetic forces made along with necessary absolute determinations every hour between November 27 and April 1; (3) five- minute observations on the 1st and 15th of every month from and including January 15. With reference to the natural history of the region in which the Vga wintered, Prof. Nordenskjéld states that it is very poor in the higher plants and fungi, but lichens are abundant. The number of insects and other inverte- brate land animals was very small. Land- and fresh- water mollusca were completely wanting. Of coleoptera only twenty species were found, belonging principally to the families Caradi and Staphylini, with two Curculiones and Chrysomele, and the other orders appeared to be equally poor, with the exception, perhaps, of the Dipiera and Podurida. On the other hand the sea-bottom, though covered with a stratum of water always about 2° C. belowthe freezing-point, swarmed with a large number and a great variety of the lower animal types, of which the dredging- boat almost daily made a rich collection in the channel, which opened early in summer in the neighbourhood of the vessel. Prof. Nordenskjéld expected that the same avifauna would be found with little variation in all the Polar lands. Experience has, however, shown that this is by no means the case, the Tchuktch peninsula being quite an exception. Birds here occur in much fewer number, but in a much greater abundance of types than in Novaya Zemlya, Spitzbergen, and Greenland, and the bird-world in its entirety has thus quite a different stamp. The birds common on Greenland, Spitzbergen, Novaya Zemlya, and the coast of North-west Siberia, Larus glaucus, eburneus, and_tridactylus, Harelda_ glaciatis, Somateria spectabilis, Plectrophanes nivalis, Phalaropus fulicarius, and Tringa maritima, the common raven and several other species, are found here. But in addition to these the following uncommon birds are met with:— The American eider, the common eider, Somateria mollissima, being absent; a greyish- brown goose with bushy yellowish-white feathers round the neck; a swan-like goose, white with black wing- feathers, a species of Fuliguda marked in white and green with a fine black-velvet head, the beautifully- marked, uncommon Larus Rossi; a little brown snipe with a bill widened spoon-like at the point; several beautiful singers, among them Sy/via Eversmannt, which for some days visited the coast in great flocks, probably on their way to breeding-places farther north, or waiting till the bushes in the interior should be free of snow. A portion of the purely Scandinavian species here exhibit some variations in colour-marking and size. The mammalia are also more numerous than in other places visited by the Swedish expeditions. According to Lieut. Nordquist the most common mammal is the hare. It differs from the common Scandinavian moun- tain hare by its greater size (its weight often rising to NATURE [ Nov. 13, 1879 14 lbs.) and by the nasal bone not diminishing so rapidly in size. The mountain fox (Vilpes lagopus, L.) is very common. The common fox (Vulpes vulgaris, Gray) appears also to be common. A red fox, shot in Cctober, differs considerably from the common, and approaches the mountain fox in several particulars. The fox’s food during winter appears to consist of hares, ptarmigans, and lemmings. (f lemmings three species were met with, AZyodes obensis (the most numercus), MW. torguatus, and Arvicola obscurus. The Tchuktches state that a little mouse also occurs, which Nordquist supposes to be a Sorex. The two lemmings often showed themselves above the snow during winter, which was not the case with Arvicola obscurus. The wolf was seen only twice. The wild reindeer was also uncommon, traces of them having been seen only once. Traces of the land-bear were also seen, and the natives stated that they were not uncommon in summer. The marmot (Arcfomys) occurs in abundance. An animal described by the natives as living by the banks of streams is supposed ‘to be the common otter. Two weazel-skins were obtained from the natives. It is not certain whether the ermine occurs there. Only two marine mammals have been seen during the winter, the Polar bear and the ringed seal (Phoca fetida). The latter is caught in great numbers, and along with fish and various vegetables forms the main food of the natives. Of land birds there winter in the region only three species, viz., Strzx nyctea, Corvus corax, and Lagopus subalpina. ‘The last-mentioned is the most common. On December 14 two large flocks of ptarmigan, one num- bering about fifty, were seen about ten miles from the coast. The raven is common at the Tchuktch villages. Its first egg was obtained on May 31.. The mountain owl was seen for the first time on March 11, but according to the natives, it is to be met with all winter. In open places on the sea there occur during winter, according to the natives, two swimmers, Uria Briinnichi and Uria grvylle. Besides these there possibly winter on the sea a species of Mervgulus and one of Fudigu/a, a specimen of the former having been obtained on November 3, and of the latter on March 9. ; (To be continued.) GALILEO AND THE APPLICATION, OF MATHEMATICS TO PHYSICS' WO hundred and ninety-eight years ago to-day (November 5, 1581) Galileo Galilei, then a boy between seventeen and eizhteen, matriculated as a medical student in the University of Pisa. At that time Medicine was perhaps the least satisfactory of scientific studies, and though his family had influential professional connections, the empirical maxims and the semi-metaphysical reasons by which they were supported never caught the young man’s fancy or satisfied his intellect. We first hear of him listening outside the door in which Ricci, the Court mathematician of Florence; who happened to be spending some time at Pisa with the Grand Duke, taught the pages a little Euclid. For a couple of months Galileo neglected his medicine, and greedily absorbed his Euclid through “the key-hole till he found some chance opportunity of introducing himself to the Professor, who was delighted with his new pupil. Ricci presented him with a volume of Archimedes, and the great mathematician and physicist of Syracuse became the spiritual father of the young Italian student. In spite of the straitened circumstances of his farnily, and the chances of fortune that awaited him in a decorous prosecution of his regular medical studies, he deserted them, and attached himself to Ricci. Watching one day the long swing of a lamp hung from the roof of a church, we are told that he noted the times x An Introductory Lecture, by William Jack, M.A., LL.D., F.R.S.E., Professor of Mathematics in the University of Glasgow, formerly Fellow of St. Peter’s College, Cambridge. it took in oscillation after oscillation, and found that though the arc through which it swept died down till it was scarcely visible, the time it took from each farthest right hand point to the succeeding farthest left hand point of its sweep was always the same. He applied the know- ledge he had gained at once to the more accurate measure- ment of the regularity of the pulse beats. The observation of the student, and the immediate practical application of it, was the sure forerunner of the greatness of the man. He knew that Science is Measurement three centuries before Comte laid it down as the definition of mathematics, or Marks had been born to caricature the maxim in his diploma picture. i At that time the Peripatetic philosophy was dominant over Europe, and tyrannized in Italy. The followers of Aristotle naturally travestied the errors of their master, In his own time Aristotle was a genuine observer of nature, and, as Galileo afterwards said of him, he would have been the last to dispute a fact because it contra- dicted his preconceived opinions. His followers, who were not observers, had constituted a universe on high a priori principles. They taught that there were two great classes of things perishable and terrestrial, one heavy, tending by an irresistible law of their essential nature to the mathematical centre of the universe, the other light, and tending irresistibly away from it. Things imperishable and extra-terrestrial moved by a like neces- sity in everlasting circles round the centre of all things. A body of 2 lbs. weight, having more tendency to the- centre than a body of 1 lb., must fall faster, and acquire a greater velocity in an equal time. With @ fréoré prin- ciples like these observation was superfluous, Galileo questioned them and put them to the examen rigorosume of experiment. The explanation of the isochronism of the larger or smaller swings of the pendulum lay in the fact that though when the moving lamp started from a higher point it had further to fall—it began to fall more nearly perpendicularly and faster, and it swept through its larger arc with a greater velocity at every point. When he took two such pendulums of equal length, to the end of one of which a lamp weighing 1 lb. was fastened, and to the end of the other a weight of 2 lbs., Galileo found that their times of oscillation were the same. The Peripate ic dictum of the greater gravity of heavier bodies was in contradiction with this simple fact. Galileo took the two weights to the top of the hanging tower of Pisa, and let them fall. They fell at the same or practi- cally the same instant. Though the simultaneous thud of these two weights on the ground was the death-blow of the Peripatetic assumption, it was not enough to convince teachers who had grown grey in teaching it. But a moment’s thought now will serve to show us not merely that it is so, but why it must be so. Instead of the mass of 2 lbs., imagine for a moment that the 2 lbs are made up of two single pound weights, each identical in shape and material with the other mass of 1 lb., and that all three drop together. All three will come to the ground together. If the two pound weights are made to adhere to each other by ever so thin a film of glycerine, there will be no strain on the film, and they will not separate. If an imaginary section is cut through a single mass. of two pounds there will equally be no strain or shearing force along that section. The tendency of the two single lbs. downwards is twice as great as that of the 1 Ib., but it has to move two masses instead of one. Ten runners who keep abreast of each other do ten times the work of an eleventh runner on the other side of the course. Man for man, each does the same work, and each man’s work has the same effect in producing the racing speed of each. An imaginary or real thread might tie the ten together, but there would be no strain on the thread, which would not snap, if their rates of running were the same. Galileo often returned to the pendulum, and completely Nov. 13, 1879] NATURE 41 established the laws of its motion in ordinary small oscil- | times as long, and always in the proportion of the square lations. He showed that though the weights at the end | roots of the lengths. In proving this he had to investigate of the string have no effect on the times of oscillation the | motion along a slope or Inclined Plane, and it was he who length of the string has, that these times are twice aslong | first showed that whatever the incline, the speed acquired for a string four times as long, three times for one nine | by a body moving on it depends not on the amount of ee The Leaning Tower of Pisa. ground it has covered on the plane itself, but on the. from point to point in it successively. The smaller these vertical drop between its starting p»int from rest, and its | successive chords become the nearer the sum total of them position at any moment. The pendulum moves along an | js to the arc, and the motion of a heavy particle con- arc of a circle, and something very like that arc would be | strained to move down them is substantially the same as got by drawing instead of it small chords of the circle | that of the bob at the end of the pendulum. These suc- Ae “<< 42 NATURE [Wov. 13, 1879 ‘cessive chords are so many inclined planes, and the move- ment of the weight down the entire series, is identical with the swing of the bob inthe arc. More is necessary ‘to establish this completely than Galileo was able to supply. In passing from plane to plane the particle must be supposed to make a slight rebound at each, a rebound which is less for each, according as the change of slope from one to the other becomes less and less, but the number of the planes, and therefore of the rebounds, in- -creases in the same proportion as the slope of each to each diminishes. To reduce the swing of the bob in its arc to the fall of the mass down the planes it is necessary to show that the effect of this great number of small re- bounds is negligible, and Galileo had not advanced far enough in the Fluxional Calculus to show it. The principle that the speed at any point of the down- ward slope depends only on the vertical drop between the two positions of the particle, is true independent of ‘friction which lowers the speed attained in a constant proportion. But it would have been difficult to establish the truth stated in this way by ordinary experiment. What is the speed attained, and how are we to recognise it? As the body goes downwards it is increasing in speed from moment to moment. It is easy to time a railway train running ata uniform rate. When the first quarter milestone he notices flies past him, a passenger sees, let us suppose, that the second hand of his watch is at 5 seconds, while -at the next quarter milestone it is at 20, at the third 35, .at the fourth 50. Every one of these equal intervals is swept over by the train in 15 seconds, or a quarter of a minute. The train is going at the regular rate of a quarter mile per quarter minute, or a mile a minute, or sixty miles an hour. Had the intervals of time noted been different, the problem would obviously have been much more com- plicated. Let us suppose that the two first 5 and 20, are ‘as before, that the next is 40, and that at the fourth the second hand of the watch has again come round to 5 seconds past the minute, In that case the first quarter mile interval is done in 15 seconds, the next in 20, the third in 25. If the rates were uniform for each interval ‘these figures would give us sixty miles an hour for the first quarter mile, forty-five miles per hour for the next, thirty-six miles an hour for the third. The train is slackening speed, and these are the average rates during the time spent in covering each of these quarter miles. But the train does not drop suddenly from one to the other, and nothing in nature does so, Point by point it ‘has a different rate, and the question, What is the rate ‘at any point? is not easily answered. How, then, are we ‘to measure the rate of speed at a point when that rate is constantly changing? We must seek some necessary consequence of any law of change which we suppose, and we must transform the question, the answer of which it is difficult to verify, into one which it will be easy to subject to an experimental test. Galileo appealed to mathematics, and showed that if his theory, that the velocity depends on the vertical drop, be true, the amount -of the vertical drop must be four times as great for two ‘seconds, and nine times as great for three seconds, as for ‘one second, and he set himself to compare the real with tthe theoretic result. Let us consider what seems a simple thing, a fall in ‘space, where there is no inclined plane at all. What is ‘the amount of fall for so many seconds? The difficulty in ‘answering accurately is that for even a short time the fall is very large. It is of no use distinguishing between a fall of 16 feet, for instance, and one of 20} feet, if the times of description, which are 1 second and 1} second, are too nearly the same to be distinguished by our measurement of time. In Galileo’s day the measure- ments of time were only beginning'to be a little delicate, chiefly through his own discoveries, and an error of $ of a second in measurement is obviously easy to make, when one of 4 feet is not easy. In the simpler case of free fall, therefore, Galileo could not compare spaces and times conveniently, because his measures of space were so much more accurate than those of time. The experi- mental test can be more readily applied to the inclined plane because the fall is slower and there is no other vital alteration in the conditions of the problem. It is necessary to form some hypothesis about the law which the falling body obeys, to deduce the mathematical consequences of that law, to select one of them which admits of an immediate and satisfactory experimental verification, This was what Galileo did. He believed that the force on the falling body was probably due to the mass of the earth, and that it was at least likely that it would be the same all through the motion, as the particle all through it is practically equally far from the centre of that mass. A constant force must be measured by its constantly producing the same effect in the same time, and the first obvious effect of any force on a falling body is, like the effect of getting up steam on a locomotive, the change of speed which it produces from moment to moment. If this be uniform—so much extra speed put on every second—there must be some way of connecting mathematically the easily measurable spaces and times instead of the less practicable but more direct speeds and times, and the question whether the result and the theory at the back of it agree can be tested over and over again by experiment. The two answers do agree, and they agree in every case. The theory, therefore, is right, un- less some other theory about the effect of forces can be found to lead to the same result. The hypothesis about the earth force, that when a body falls from rest its speed will be increased by the same amount in every equal time interval, and that the speed of any body will be increased just as much as that of any other, is a true hypothesis. A tolb. weight falls neither faster nor slower than a 1 lb. one. If the earth alone be acting on both, a feather falls as fast as a guinea. It is so in vacuum, though in ordinary air, of course, it is different. A force always the same, producing, that is to say, always the same amount of change of speed in the same time, is acting on every equal particle of matter at the earth’s surface, To test this theory we can appeal practically to the inclined plane, rough or smooth. The force on a body falling along it at any moment bears a fixed proportion to that in a free fall; a very small proportion, if the plane has only a very slight slope. Obviously the length of the line along such a plane, down which a body runs in a_ second, is a very small proportion of that of the free fall in the same time. In the latter case, what to Galileo’s power of measuring time was an almost imperceptible difference involved a very marked difference in the spaces gone through, so that it was difficult to verify the law. In the former the spaces needed to be measured for experiments lasting even a few seconds become reasonable. In three seconds a body falling freely from the top of a steeple 144 feet high would fall to the bottom, and it would only take five seconds to fall down Tennant’s stalk, but it is easy to make a plane such that a body will only fall down 14 feet along it in three seconds. It was in connection with his investigations of motion on a plane that Galileo laid down the principle that perhaps serves best as the basis of the theory of balancing forces, the principle of what is called Virtual Velocities. Every one is familiar with it, inthe ordinary maxim, that what is gained in speed is lost in power. In the board laid across a fallen tree, on which children see-saw, the lighter child is put at the extremity of the longer arm. With a plank, 12 feet long, a child 50 lbs. weight will be balanced against one 70 lbs. weight when the plank rests on the tree 7 feet from the light child’s end, and 5 feet from the heavy one’s. When they swing, the amount of swing is proportional to the distances from the fixed point. If the plank moves, so that the child at the 7 feet end rises through seven inches, the other goes down Nov. 13, 1879] NATURE 43 through five. In every case like this, where forces are in equilibrium on a system, we can imagine a motion given, every point moving according to the geometrical circum- stances. Let us imagine such a motion. When two forces act on a system and keep it at rest, multiply the space through which the point of application of each force moves, referred to the line in which the force acts, by the measure of the force. When there is equilibrium the resulting quantities are equal and of opposite signs. The one child weighing 50 Ibs. rises vertically through 7 inches, and we may call the product 350 inch-Ibs. up- wards. The 70 lbs. child moves in the same time 5 inches downwards, and the product, which is 350 inch- lbs. downwards, is equal and opposite to the other. If there is equilibrium it must always be so; if it is so there must be equilibrium. It was to Galileo that we owe this most fruitful of statical principles. It can easily be ex-*} tended to the case when any number of forces act at any number of points ona body or a system, but it was not till a century later that John Bernouilli could state it in all its generality, or show how admirably it serves as a sufficient basis for the whole theory of equilibrium. These laws of falling bodies and of virtual velocities marked the greatest advance in mechanical science since the world began. The nature of the earth’s common action on all bodies at its surface had, in fact, been ascertained. The question that had been put directly to nature had been completely answered, and the answer was final. The Peripatetics had a singular notion of what they called Inertia. According to them, a body had a natural tendency to move at a given speed straight towards the centre of the earth if it were heavy, and straight away from it if it were light. The continuance of that natural motion, in that direction, at that speed was ensured by inertia. Strike the body in that or in any other direction, and an immediate change takes place, but it is a change which disappears if the body is moving inavacuum. In ordinary air it is kept up, because the air behind, from which the body is suddenly taken away when it is struck, instantly closes up, and strikes it like a spring which has been let go. At every new position it leaves air, and air springs after it to keep it going. As far as it was then possible, Galileo worked out the consequences of this theory and those of his own, which was that stated in Newton’s first Law of Motion—that except where any external force operates, motion in any direction at a certain rate will continue indefinitely in that direction at the same rate. The result was that the old theory was proved to be wrong. As with the first law of motion, so with the second. It is substantially this, that when a force acts on a particle in motion, it produces the same effect in changing that motion as it would if, before it began to act, the body were at rest. Suppose a particle moving with a speed which may be described as 10 feet per second northward and 8 feet per second eastward. Let a force suddenly act on it, the effect of which is to change its rate of going to 17 feet per second northward and 13 feet per second eastward. The amount gained is an addition of speed of 7 feet per second northward and 3 feet per second eastward. Imagine the same force acting on a particle identical with the former, but initially at rest. It will make that particle begin to move from rest at the same rate of 7 feet per second northward and 3 feet per second eastward which it gained in the former motion. The effect in changing rate has been the same as if the body had been at rest, and the whole eftect on the eastward direction has been the same as it would have been had there been nothing to affect it in a northerly direction. It was through the combination of these two principles that Galileo was able to solve another and more difficult problem. Until they were verified by the success of millions of predictions founded on them, they were not so much principles as theories or hypotheses. A fulfilled prediction of any complicated phenomenon raises the hypothesis on which it has been explained to the dignity of a probable truth. Leta bullet be started in an oblique direction at a certain speed—we can predict, by applying these two principles, the way in which it will move and the course it will follow. Let us take one which is sent off at a rate of speed compounded of 32 feet per second vertical and 20 feet per second horizontal. At every point of its path, it will keep both these rates except so far as gravity changes them, and gravity will do by it as a moving body just what it would do by a body starting from rest. To the latter it would give a downward speed of 32 feet per second in a second. In a second it will give just enough downward speed, therefore, to annihilate the upward speed of the bullet. After a second, it will have ceased to have any upward speed, but it will go on with the horizontal speed of 20 feet per second. In its first second the bullet has moved away from its starting- point 20 feet in a horizontal direction and 16 feet upward, because a fall of 16 feet from rest is needed to generate that velocity of 32 feet per second downward, which is wanted to destroy the upward velocity of the amount with which it started. At the end of the first second it has reached its new position by a certain path. Till the bullet comes to the ground again another second will suffice, during which it will fall through 16 feet vertically, and acquire a speed of 32 feet per second downward as it started with 32 feet per second upward, and it will move horizontally 20 feet further from the starting-point. When the second second closes, the particle has again reached the ground bya path which is the left-handed facsimile of that by which it rose. There are thus three measurable things, all conse- quences of our fundamental laws. Does the bullet rise 16 feet? does it strike the ground 40 feet away from where it started? does it take 2 seconds to do it in? Nature answers that all these things are so. If we take some means of making the bullet record or picture its path ona board or paper we shall have a still completer answer to the question. Galileo’s mathematics were enough to show him that if these two laws were true the curve described must be a parabola—except so far as it is slightly modified by the resistance of the air—and the parabola calculated is the parabola described. Such a proof is all but conclusive. Every point in the path really found has thus been predicted as the mathematical consequence of these two laws, and when this prediction is repeated and confirmed in every experiment, doubt vanishes, the laws are securely established, and the secret of nature has been found, (To be continued.) JAMES CLERK MAXWELL, F.R.S. AMES CLERK MAXWELL, whose premature deatlr q on Wednesday last week, science has to deplore, was born in 1831, being the only son of John Clerk Maxwell, Esq., of Middlebie. His grandfather was Captain James Clerk of Penicuik, whose two sons were the Right Hon. Sir George Clerk, Bart.. of Penicuik, and the above-mentioned, John Clerk Maxwell. Captain James Clerk was a younger brother of Sir John Clerk of Penicuik, and on the death of the latter Sir George Clerk succeeded to the estate of Penicuik, while John succeeded to the estate of Nether Corsock, part of the Middlebie éstate, which had come into the family through marriage in a previous generation with Agnes Maxwell. Along with this estate John Clerk assumed the family name of Maxwell. When James Clerk Maxwell was eight years old, his mother died, and his father, who had been called to the Scotch Bar, but never practised as an advocate, lived a retired life, devoting himself to the care of his estates, and of his son. 44 NATURE [Wov. 13, 1879 ' James Clerk Maxwell was educated at the Edinburgh Academy, where he gained the Academical Club Medal for Geometry in 1845, and the Silver Medal for Mathe- matics in 1847. In 1848 his mother’s brother, John Cay, of Edinburgh, took him to see William Nicol, who showed him the colours exhibited by polarised light after passing through unannealed glass, &c. This visit seems to have given the first impulse towards his researches in optics. On his return he constructed a polariscope with glass re- flectors. The framework of the first was of cardboard, but a superior article was subsequently constructed by him in wood. Small lenses mounted in cardboard were em- ployed when a conical pencil of light was required. By means of this instrument he examinea the figures ex- ‘hibited by pieces of unannealed glass which he prepared himself, and with a camera lucida, and a box of water colours, he reproduced these figures on paper, taking care ‘to sketch no outlines, but to shade off each coloured band imperceptibly into the next. Some of these water-colour drawings he forwarded to Nicol, and was more than re- paid by the receipt shortly afterwards of a pair of prisms prepared by Nicol himself. These prisms were always very highly prized by Prof. Maxwell. Once while at ‘Trinity the little box containing them was carried off by his bed-maker during a vacation, and destined for de- struction. The bed-maker died before term commenced, and it was only after a very diligent search that they were found among the late bed-maker’s effects, which had been set aside as valueless. After this event the prisms were most carefully guarded, and about three weeks ago were deposited, at Professor Maxwell’s request, in one of the show cases of the Cavendish laboratory. The study of the figures exhibited by unannealed glass in polarised light drew the attention of Clerk Maxwell more particularly to the equilibrium of elastic solids, a subject on which he has done some very valuable work. After leaving the Edinburgh Academy James Clerk Maxwell entered the University of Edinburgh, where he soon won the esteem of Kelland, Forbes, and Gregory, under whom he studied and worked. In October, 1850, he came to Cambridge, entering at Peterhouse. At this time his father does not seem to have been very sanguine respecting the advantages to be derived from a Cambridge course, but his opinion of the University rose consider- ably when in 1854 the examiners showed their apprecia- tion of his son by making him Second Wrangler, and bracketing him as first Smith’s Prizeman. Clerk Max- well’s first term in Cambridge does not seem to have been avery happy one. The Peterhouse men were all classics or pure mathematicians, and he could get no sympathy in his physical work. Finding himself comparatively without friends at the end of the term, he consulted his father and his college tutor, and by their advice migrated to Trinity on December 14th, 1850, where, having a much larger number to select from, he not only found congenial spirits, but soon became looked up to as their leader by a set of admiring followers. In 1852, while an undergraduate at Trinity, he-stayed for a few weeks at a country vicarage in Suffolk with the Rev. C. B. Taylor, a brother of a college friend. While there he was attacked by a serious - illness, and the care and kindness with which he was nursed by Mr. and Mrs. Taylor never faded from his memory ; it so impressed him with the power of love that it formed an important factor in the formation of the Christian character which all who knew regarded with an admiration akin to worship. , As above stated James Clerk Maxwell graduated as Second Wrangler and (bracketed) first Smith’s Prizeman in 1854, having previously been elected a Foundation Scholar of his College. In 1855 he became a Fellow of Trinity, and in 1856 obtained the Professorship of Natural Philosophy in Marischal College, Aberdeen, which appoint- ment he held till the fusion of Marischal College and King’s College, when he, with other Professors, received a pension from the Crown. In 1858 he married Katherine, a daughter of Principal Dewar of Marischal College, thus vacating his fellowship at Trinity. In 1860 he succeeded Prof. Goodeve as Professor of . Natural Philosophy and Astronomy in King’s College, London, but after the death of his father he retired in 1865 to his estate in Scotland, where he subsequently carried out his father’s plans for completing the house and offices at Glenlair. In 1871 he was invited by the Senate of the University of Cambridge to accept the Chair of Experimental Physics which had just been created, and on October 25th, 1871, he delivered his inaugural lecture as Professor of Experi- mental Physics in the University of Cambridge. At first the most important part of his work consisted in arranging the details of the Cavendish Laboratory which the Duke of Devonshire had offered to present [to the University, and the building of which was ‘personally superintended by Prof. Maxwell from first to last. The whole of the arrangements which render the Cavendish Laboratory so admirably adapted for Physical investigations, are due to the care and forethought of Prof. Clerk Maxwell. When the building had been completed and formally presented to the University, the Duke of Devonshire further signified his desire to provide it with a complete equipment of apparatus, and all this was procured under the personal supervision of the Professor. In 1872 he was elected Honorary Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge. During last winter Prof. Maxwell did not enjoy his usual health, In the spring he was unable to carry on his work with his accustomed vigour, but when he left Cambridge for Scotland his friends supposed that with mental rest and physical exercise his health would be restored, and did not regard his indisposition as other than temporary. In Scotland, however, his health did not improve, he suffered much pain and was unable to take his usual food. At length by the advice of his medical attendants, and of Prof. Saunders of Edin- burgh, one of his former fellow-students, he returned to Cambridge in the beginning of October. Under Dr, Paget’s care he at first made considerable improvement and some hopes were entertained of his recovery. He, however, gradually became weaker, and when Dr. Hum- phry visited him in conjunction with Dr. Paget, it was plain that medical skill could only alleviate his suffering. He died at noon on Wednesday, November 5th, having retained the conscious possession of all his mental powers to the last. General invitations were sent to all members of the electoral roll of the University to assemble in Trinity College Chapel at 4°30 P.M. on Monday, November roth, and were numerously accepted, especially by heads of houses (including the Vice-Chancellor), and by professors. About 4°45 P.M, the service was commenced by Mr. Stanford playing the “Dead March” upon the organ. The remains of the late Professor were then carried into the chapel, preceded by the choir and the first part of the Burial Service read. This was followed by the Anthem ‘Tf we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus shall God bring with him. F . Wherefore comfort one another with these words.” After the service the assembly followed the body to the great gate, whence it was conveyed to Scotland to be ea in the family burying-place at Corsock, Kirkeud- right. Prof. Maxwell was appointed Foreign Honorary Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences of Boston in November, 1874 ; Member of the American Philosophical Society of Philadelphia in October, 1875 ; Correspondent in the Mathematical Class to the Imperial Academy of Sciences, Géttingen, in December, 1875 ; Honorary Member of the New York Academy of Sciences in December, 1876 ; Associate of the Amsterdam Royal Academy of Sciences in April, 1877 ; and Corresponding Member of the Imperial Academy of Sciences, Vienna, Nov. 1 3, 1879] NATURE 45 in August, 1877. He was Fellow of the Royal Societies of London and Edinburgh, and of the Cambridge Philo- sophical Society, and a large contributor to the Trans- actions of each of these. In 1872 he was created Honorary LL.D. of Edinburgh, and on June 21, 1876, he received the honorary degree of D.C.L. at Oxford. In 1860 the Rumford Medal of the Royal Society was awarded to Prof. Clerk Maxwell ‘ for his Researches on the Composition of Colours, and other Optical papers.” In his address on the presentation of the medal, Major- General Sabine alluded to Prof. Maxwell’s calculation showing the connection of the ‘‘ mechanical strains to which elastic solids are subjected under certain con- ditions with the coloured curves which those solids exhibit in polarised light.” He then alluded to the colour-top of Prof. Maxwell, and the colour-equations obtained from it, as well as the light it throws upon colour-blind- hess, concluding with these words :—“ These researches for which the Rumford medal is awarded lead to the remark- able result that to a very near degree of approximation all the colours of the spectrum, and therefore all colours in nature, which are only the mixtures of these, can be perfectly imitated by mixtures of three actually attainable colours, which are the red, green, and blue, belonging re- spectively to three particular points of the spectrum.” While Professor of Physics at King’s College, Lon- don, Maxwell was engaged as a member of the British Association Committee in the determination of the Absolute Unit of Electrical Resistance, and it was the comparison of electrical units which attracted a great part of his attention during his tenure of his Cambridge Professorship. He always spoke very highly of Faraday’s “ Experimental Researches,” which he read very early in life, and to which he attributed some of his most useful ideas on electricity and electro-magnetism. In Clerk Maxwell Faraday found a mind constituted after the same plan as his own, but with the advantage of a mathematical training, which has made Prof. Maxwell capable of interpreting Faraday’s bold realisations to the mathematical world, For Clerk Maxwell’s own views of Faraday the reader may be referred to the article “ Fara- day,” in the ninth edition of the “Encyclopaedia Bri- tannica.” It is impossible in a sketch like this to give anything but the most superficial view of a character so noble in all its aspects as that of Clerk Maxwell. As a professor he was wonderfully admired by those who were truly his disciples. He had not the power of making himself clearly understood by those who listened but casually to his pithy sentences, and consequently he was not a so- called popular lecturer; nor was he a most successful teacher of careless students. But when he had those about him who could enter into his mind, and, receiving the golden truths from his lips, could alloy them in such a way as to make them acceptable to the ordinary stu- dent, no better teacher could be desired, even for the most elementary instruction. His wonderful imagination was of great value, not only in supplying illustrations for didactic purposes, but in suggesting analogies and opening up new fields for research, The pages of Blackwood’s Magazine can testify to his talents as a poet ; his sense of humour and his ready wit formed remarkable features in his character, in fact he seldom talked for many minutes without provoking at least a smile. (Some of the reviews lately contributed by him to NATURE may serve as illustrations.) He was weil versed in all the literature of the day. and seemed to have investigated on his own account every system of philoso- phy. He took great interest in passing events, though he never indulged in political discussions. As an experi- mentalist he was too well known to require description ; in that region of science which was his par excellence, viz., the domain of Molecular Physics, he stands without a rival, But there were other sides of his character which outshone even his scientific attainments. Such complete unselfishness and tender consideration as he exhibited for those around him, and especially for those under his control, are seldom to be met with. During the eight years that he held the chair of Physics in Cambridge, he never spoke a hasty word, even to his attendants. His self-sacrificing devotion to those he loved was the marvel of his friends. Though he never entered into theological controversy, and only occasionally in his scientific writings indicated in a sentence or two the side he took in ques- tions which have recently been brought prominently before the public by some of the more popular men of science, those who had an opportunity of seeing into his home-life knew him to be an earnest Christian. About three weeks ago he remarked that he had examined every system of Atheism he could lay hands on, and had found, quite inde- pendently of any previous knowledge he had of the wants of men, that each system implied a God at the bottom to make it workable. He went on to say that he had been occupied in trying to gain truth, that it is but little of truth that man can acquire, but it is something to “know in whom we have believed.” His simple Christian faith gave him a peace too deep to be ruffled by bodily pain or external circumstances, and left his mind free to the last to contemplate all kinds of questions of general interest. One day not long before his death he had been puzzling himself for some time in vain endeavours to discover why Lorenzo (“ Merchant of Venice,” Act v. scene 1), whose character was at least far from noble, says to Jessica— ‘* Look how the floor of heaven Is thick inlaid with patines of bright gold : There’s not the smallest orb which thou beholdst But in his motion like an angel sings, Still quiring to the young-eyed cherubins ; Such harmony is in immortal souls ; But whilst this muddy vesture of decay Doth grossly close it in, we cannot hear it.’ We may quote one other example illustrating how the speculative character of his mind remained to the last. About five or six days before his death, when he was suffering from such extreme weakness that he could say very little, after lying motionless with his eyes closed for some time, he presently looked up and remarked, ‘*‘ Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no vari- ableness, neither shadow of turning.’ Do you know that is a hexameter ? ‘maoa Séots ayaby Kat way Sdpyua réedevov,” I wonder who composed it.” His knowledge of hymns and hymn-writers was very extensive, and he took great pleasure during his illness in reciting from memory some of his favourites among the writings of Richard Baxter, George Herbert, and others. To attempt to give any adequate idea of his contri- butions to science ina sketch like the present would be but to mislead the reader. His great work on “ Electricity and Magnetism,” the second edition of which is nowin the press, is the admiration of mathematical physicists. More generally known are his treatise on the Theory of Heat, and his little text-book entitled “ Matter and Motion” which was published by the S.P.C K. One of his earliest papers on the “‘ Theory of Rolling Curves,” was com- municated to the Royal Society of Edinburgh by Professor Kelland, and read on February 19, 1849, when Clerk Maxwell was an Edinburgh student barely eighteen years of age. His paper on the ‘‘ Equilibrium of Elastic Solids,’ above alluded to, was read before the same society on February 18, 1850. His paper on the “Transformation of Surfaces by Bending” was. read before the Cambridge Philosophical Society on March 13, 1854, about two months after taking his degree. This 46 NATURE [Wov. 13, 1879 was followed in December, 1855, and February, 1856, by papers on j‘‘Faraday’s Lines of Force.’”’ In 1857 he ob- tained the Adams Prize, in the University of Cambridge, for his paper on the “ Motions of Saturnian Rings.” His paper on the “Theory of Compound Colours, and the Relations of the Colours of the Spectrum,” which was chiefly instrumental in gaining the Rumford Medal, was read before the Royal Society on March 22, 1860. His “Dynamical Theory of the Electromagnetic Field,” in- cluding a brief sketch of the Electromagnetic Theory of Light, was read before the Royal Society on December 8, 1864. The results of Clerk Maxwell’s experiments on “The Viscosity and Internal Friction of Air and other Gases,’’? were made known to the Royal Society in the Bakerian Lecture read, February 8, 1866, Then follow his Royal Society papers “On the Dynamical Theory of Gases,” in May, 1866, and “On a Method of Making a direct Comparison of Electrostatic with Electromagnetic Force, with a Note on the Electromagnetic Theory of Light,” in June, 1868. Lately he took great interest in Graphical Statics, and contributed a long paper “On Reciprocal Figures, Frames and Diagrams of Forces,” to the Royal Society of Edinburgh, in December, 1869. Among his most recent papers are a paper on “ Stresses in Rarefied Gases arising from Inequalities of Temperature,’’ read before the Royal Society on April 11, 1878, and a paper on ‘ Boltzmann’s Theorem,” read before the Cambridge Philosophical Society. It would take too long to enume- rate his articles and reviews published in the PAzlosophical Magazine and in NATURE. His contributions to the ninth edition of the “ Encyclopzedia Britannica’? include the articles “Atom,” “ Attraction,” “Capillary Action,” “Constitution of Bodies,” “ Diagrams,’’ “ Diffusion,” “Ether,” “Faraday,” and “Harmonic Analysis.” ‘ Har- monic Analysis” was the last article he wrote. One of the most remarkable of his works is the re- cently-published volume of the Electrical Researches of the Hon. Henry Cavendish, of which Prof. Maxwell is the editor. The MSS. are in the possession of the Duke of Devonshire, and are now at Chatsworth. They were entrusted by him to Prof. Maxwell shortly after the com- pletion of the Cavendish Laboratory. Some of Cavendish’s experiments were repeated by Prof. Maxwell with all the appliances of modern apparatus, and others were carried out by his pupils. Most of the apparatus which he employed in his re- searches has been presented by Prof. Clerk Maxwell to the Cavendish Laboratory, together with many of his books. He always regarded the laboratory with great affection, and the University owes much to his liberality. One of the most interesting pieces of his handy-work now preserved in the laboratory is a plaster model of Prof. Willard Gibbs’s thermodynamic surface, de- scribed in the fourth edition of “ Maxwell’s Theory of Heat.” All the lines on the surface are drawn by his own hand, many of them being mapped out by placing the surface obliquely in the sunshine and marking the bound- ary between light and shade. Another valuable model constructed while Prof. Maxwell was at Cambridge is his dynamical illustration of the action of an induction coil in which two wheels represent by their rotation the primary and secondary currents respectively, the wheels being connected through a differential gearing to which a body of great moment of inertia is attached, the rotation of which represents the magnetism of the coil. A fric- tion break represents resistance, and a spring may be attached to the secondary wheel to represent the capacity of a condenser placed in the secondary circuit. Among other valuable pieces of apparatus presented by Prof. Maxwell to the laboratory are the receiver, plates, and inertia bar employed in his researches on the viscosity of air and other gases, his colour-top,. portions of the “colour-box,” including the variable slits, with the wedge or measuring their width, a polariser and analyser made of thin films of stretched gutta percha, the mechanism for illustrating the motion of Saturnian rings, a real image © stereoscope, and the dynamical top, whose moments of inertia about three axes, which are at right angles to each other, can be so varied by means of screws that the axis of rotation can be made that of greatest or of least moment of inertia. When the axis of rotation is the mean axis, the motion of the top is, of course, unstable. When Prof. Maxwell came to Cambridge in 1857 to take his M.A. degree, he brought this top with him from Aberdeen. In the evening he showed it to a party of friends in college, who left the top spinning in his room. Next morning he espied one of these friends coming across the court, so jumping out of bed, he started the top anew, and retired between the sheets. The reader can well supply the rest of the story for himself. It is only neces- sary to add that the plot was completely successful. Prof. Clerk Maxwell’s papers will be placed in the hands of Prof. Stokes, who is one of his executors, in order that they may be published or catalogued and pre- served in such a way as to be readily available to those wishing to consult them. ; j The death of James Clerk Maxwell is a loss tohis Uni- versity and to the world too great for words. He rests. from his labours, but his works will follow him. Wo. GARNETT NOTES THE following is the list of officers to be proposed at the anniversary meeting of the Royal Society on December 1 :— President—William Spottiswocde, M.A., D.C.L., LL.D Treasurer—John Evans, D.C.L., LL.D., V.P.S.A. Secre- taries—Prof. George Gabriel Stokes, M.A., D.C.L., LL.D., Prof, Thomas Henry Huxley, LL.D. Foreign Secretary— Prof, Alexander William Williamson, Ph.D. Other Members of the Council—George Busk, V.P.L.S., Prof. Arthur Cayley, LL.D., Major-General Henry Clerk, R.A., Edwin Dunkin, F.R.A.S., Augustus G, Vernon Harcourt, F.C.S,, Sir Joseph Dalton Hooker, .C.B., K.C.S.I., D.C.L., John Whitaker Hulke, F.R.C.S., Lieut.-General Sir Henry Lefroy, C.B., William Newmarch, Inst. Fr. Corr., Prof, Alfred Newton, M.A., V.P.Z.S., Prof. William Odling, M.B., V.P.C.S., Sir James Paget, Bart., D.C.L., William Henry Perkin, Sec. C.S., Charles William Siemens, D.C.L., John Simon, C.B., D.C.L., Prof. John Tyndall, D.C.L., LL.D. A MEMORIAL strongly recommending Lord Rayleigh’s election (if he can be induced to become a candidate), to the Professorship of Experimental Physics at Cambridge, is in circulation. Lord Rayleigh’s merits for such an appointment are perfectly well known to our readers. We understand that his election will be supported by many of the professoriate, WE are pleased to hear that Prof. Sir Wyville Thomson is now much better, and able to conduct the correspondence in connection with the Challenger work. THE death is announced, at Florence, of Miss Martha Charters Somerville, the only surviving daughter of Mrs. Mary Somer- ville, in her sixty-sixth year. Miss Somerville enjoyed a pension of 10o/, a year, in recognition of the services rendered to science by her mother. THE Royal Institution Christmas Lectures will be given by Prof. Tyndall. The subjects will be Water and Air. On Tuesday night Dr. W. W. Hunter, the Indian Director- General of Statistics, delivered a lecture at the Philosophical Institution of Edinburgh, on the subject of ‘‘ What the English had done for India.” Contrasting the present English condition of the country {with what it has become, since we have had to do with it, Dr, Hunter showed that the improvements in the land, and in the lot of the people had been immense. We need Nov. 13, 1879] NATURE 47 not refer here to the purely governmental improvements which have been made, by the substitution of a good government fora bad, or for no government at all. The peace and security which the poorest native now enjoys was unknown before. Much of the improvement which has taken place has been due to the introduction of science and its results into India. As the Zimves puts it in a leader on Dr. Hunter’s address :— ** A country which, in the natural course of things, seemed fated to be long shut out from the light of civilisation, or to receive tardily a few rays, was admitted at once into the full blaze of noonday, Other nations have been doomed to work out their civilisation with painful striving. But, thanks to her association with the West, India has had no such novitiate to undergo. All that Europe could teach or give has been made free to her without trouble or price. She has had no centuries of painful waiting, but has stepped at once into possession of all the accumulated intellectual wealth of the West. This has already borne fruits, and more must follow. Our Indian fellow-subjects are being rapidly familiarised with our language and books, and they eagerly drink in modern ideas, They study our philosophers, and talk with more or less intelligence of Mr. Darwin or Mr Herbert Spencer. The names of our chief scientific men are as well known at Agra or Poona as in London. Our schools and colleges are the little leaven which will not fail to leaven the whole mass, The old intellectual idols and prejudices are already prostrate or tottering; and even were there no traces of a bridge or a road to tell of our sway, its history would be im- perishably written in the intellectual revolution which we have swiftly effected.” DuRinG the last four years, Science News states, very little has ‘been heard of the observatory to be built in California from the gift of Mr, James Lick, and the public has very generally supposed that nothing would come of the project. But there are now signs of a renewed activity on the part of the trustees, and evidence of an intention to carry the project through without further delay, In August last, Mr. S. W. Burnham, of Chicago, the well-known observer of double stars, was invited to spend a month or two on Mount Hamilton, with his telescope, in order to test the suitability of the mountain as a site for the proposed observatory. His reports were so favourable that Prof. New- comb, on whose recommendation he was chosen for the work, visited the place himself in September. Both these gentlemen speak in the highest terms of the excellence of the astronomical conditions. Not only ig almost every night perfectly clear, but, according to Mr, Burnham, bad seeing is almost unknown. Every night is such a one as he would consider superb at Chicago, and would only meet with two or three times a year. He discovered during his stay a number of new double stars, in portions of the sky which are further south than can be thoroughly examined in the comparatively bad atmosphere of stations this side of the Mississippi. The result of this exploration will give both the trustees and the public a new interest in the project, and it is supposed will lead the former to push the work on as rapidly as possible. If, as both the astronomers who have examined the site seem to suppose, its atmosphere is finer than that of any existing observatory, the result will-be that the most powerful telescope in the world will be under the finest sky for employing its utmost capacity, M. Feit, the Paris glass-founder, has just received an unusual number of orders for large discs for the following observatories :—Pulkowa Observatory, So cm. diameter ; Nice ‘Observatory (Bischofsheim’s gift), 76 cm. ; Paris National Ob- . Servatory, 73cm. ; Vienna Observatory, to be worked by Grubb, 7ocm.; Mr. Hilger for England, 52 cm. ; and M, Salmocroghi, of Milan, 52cm. The Nice Observatory object-glass will be worked by MM, Henry Brothers, On Thursday, November 4, took place at the French Ministry of Public Instruction, the first general meeting of the delegates of the Meteorological Commission. M, Jules Ferry was in the chair, and he prefaced the discussion by some remarks on the zeal exhibited by delegates and expressed the confidence felt by the Government in the ultimate success of so many efforts. M. Hervé Mangon, the president of the Council of the Central Bureau, read a report on the work accomplished since the insti- tution was created, and directed attention to a number of useful questions which up to that moment had been too much neglected. All the resolutions proposed which had been discussed in pre- liminary meetings were accepted. A number of delegates delivered addresses asking for the erection of new stations and the improvement of certain departments, THe French Minister of Public Instruction has appointed a commission for arranging all the collections now located in the Trocadero, and creating out of these valuable elements an ethnographical museum. UNDER date Rome, Sunday night, the Daily Mews corre- spondent telegraphs :—‘‘ Galvani in the act of touching with two different metals the lumbar nerves of a vivisected frog ; such is the monument, admirably executed in marble, which his native city, Bologna, has this day dedicated in her busiest street to the great discoverer of animal electricity.” Tr is stated that the Bell Telephone Company have taken the first steps to bring an action against the Edison Telephone Company for infringement of patent in respect of the microphonic transmitter of hard carbon employed in the latest form of instru- ment. This transmitter, which is almost identical with the Blake microphone used by the Bell Company, is claimed by Edison, under the name of the Zwertia Telephone, as one of the earliest forms of his carbon telephone. THE programme of the Society of Arts for its 126th session has just been issued. It gives a list of the papers and lectures for the session, so far as they have been arranged. ‘The follow- ing are the papers to be read at the evening meetings previous to Christmas :—November 26, ‘* Suggestions for Dealing with the Sewage of London,” by Major-General H. Y. D. Scott, C.B. F.R.S. December 3, ‘‘ Apprenticeship: Scientific and Un- scientific,” by Silvanus P. Thompson, D.Sc., Professor of Applied Physics at University College, Bristol, December 10, ‘‘ Art Vestiges in Afghanistan ; the Results of some Recent Explora- tions in the Jellalabad Valley,” by William Simpson, December 17, ‘The Panama Canal,” by Capt, Bedford Pim, R.N., M.P. The dates of the papers after Christmas are not announced, but the following are among the subjects to be treated :—‘‘ Domestic Poisons,” by Henry Carr; ‘‘ Gas Furnaces and Kilns for Burn- ing Pottery,” by Herbert Guthrie, C.E.; ‘‘The Utilisation of Slag,” by Charles Wood ; ‘‘Art in Japan,” by C. Pfoundes ; ‘The Trade and Commerce of the Yenisei,” by Henry See- bohm ; ‘‘ Modern Autographic Printing Processes,” by Thomas Bolas, F.C.S.; ‘‘ The History of the Art of Bookbinding,” by Henry B, Wheatley, F.S.A,; ‘Art Ironwork,” by J. W. Singer; ‘‘The History of Musical Pitch,” by A. J. Ellis, F.R.S.; ‘* The Recent History of Explosive Agents,” by Prof. Abel, C.B., F.R.S. ; ‘‘ Ireland and its Resources,” by C. G. W. Lock: ‘*The Future of Epping Forest,” by William Paul, F.L.S. Three courses of ‘‘ Cantor Lectures” are to be given. The first course is by Dr. Charles Graham, F.C.S., F.I.C., Professor of Chemical Technology at University College, London, on ‘‘ The Chemistry of Bread and Bread-making ;” the second on the ‘* Manufacture of India-rubber and Gutta-percha,” by Thomas Bolas, F.C.S.; the third by R. W. Edis, F.S.A., on *‘Art Decoration and Furniture.” The first meeting of the session will be held on the 19th inst., when the opening address 48 NATURE [Vov. 13, 1879 will be delivered by Lord Alfred S. Churchill, chairman of the Council. Dr. Hrncxs’s “ History of the British Marine Polyzoa,” upon which he has long been engaged, is nearly ready for publica- tion; it will form two volumes, uniform with the same author's ‘© Hydroid Zoophytes,” and will be fully illustrated by drawings of all the known British species and more remarkable varieties of this hitherto almost undescribed class, The work will be published by Mr. Van Voorst. Messrs. BUNNY AND Davies, of Shrewsbury, have published a ‘* Guide to the Botany, Ornithology, and Geology of Shrews- bury and its Vicinity,” edited by Mr. W. Philips, F.L.S. TuE freedom of the Leathersellers’ Company has been con- ferred on Prof, Owen. On November 3, at 7.45 P.M., a magnificent meteor was ob- served at Strassburg, in the vicinity of Jupiter, travelling south- eastwards, The duration was four to five seconds, The meteor was coloured green, and left behind a luminous track, In his just published report on the trade of Newchwang, in Southern Manchuria, Mr. Consul Adkins mentions that he has in his possession a specimen of lead ore found in the neighbour- hood, which contains about 90 per cent. of metal, and also one of copper from the same locality which is almost equally rich. An attempt is being made to get authority to work these mines with foreign appliances. There is an abundant supply of excel- lent coal close to the veins of metal, and were the mining industry once fairly started, the prosperity of Newchwang and the whole province would, in Mr, Adkins’s opinion, become remarkable. THE additions to the Zoological Society’s Gardens during the past week include a Rhesus Monkey (A@acacus erythreus) from India, presented by Mr. Thos, G, Anderson ; a Common Barn Owl (Strix flammea), British, presented by Mr. F. Bagnall ; a Vervet Monkey (Cercopithecus lalandii) from South Africa, a Mona Monkey (Cercopithecus mona) from West Africa, a Mal- brouck Monkey (Cercopithecus cynosurus) from East Africa, deposited ; two Moustache Monkeys (Cercopithecus cephus) from West Africa, an Axis Deer (Cervus axis) from India, a Quebec Marmot (Arctomys monax) from North America, a Common Weasel (M@ustela vulgaris), British, two Boatbills (Cancroma cochlearia), two Variegated Bitterns (A7detfa involucris) from South America, a Common Night Heron (Mycticorax griseus), British, purchased. METEOROLOGICAL NOTES In the Aftorology of England for the quarter ending June 30, Mr. Glaisher gives some interesting notes of the cold weather up to that date. The mean temperature of London for the quarter was 49°'5, being the lowest which has occurred during the corresponding period since 1837. The unusually protracted cold weather set in on October 27, 1878, and for the eight months ending June, 1879, the mean temperature was only 41°°6, being lower than any which has occurred in the present century since 1813-14, when the mean temperature of these eight months was only 40°°4. It was during this cold period that the Thames was frozen over and a fair held between London and Blackfriars Bridges. Mr. Glaisher appends a very valuable table showing the mean temperature of the eight months ending June for each year from 1771-72, from which it appears that five colder periods than that of the present year occurred towards the end of last century, viz.,:40°°9, in 1794-95, 41°2 in 1788-89, and 41°°3 in 1783-84, 1784-85, and again in 1796-97. The more frequent occurrence of a higher temperature during the colder half of the year in recent years as compared with what prevailed in the end of last century is pointed out. During the first six months of 1879 the rainfall about London has been exceptionally large, amounting to 17°30 inches, which is larger than has fallen in these months any year'since 1815. In the Zransactions and Proceedings of the Philosophical Society of Adelaide, South Australia, for 1877-78, there is an interesting paper by Mr. H. H. Hayter, Government Statist of Victoria, on the infantile mortality of our Australian colonies, based on the statistical returns from 1866 to 1877. During these twelve years the rates per annum of the mortality of infants under one year of age in proportion to 1,000 births were 155 in South Australia, 128 in Queensland, 125 in Victoria, 106 in New South Wales, ror in New Zealand, and 100 in Tasmania. In each of the years South Australia stood at the top of the list, except in 1877, when the rate of its infantile mortality was slightly exceeded by that of Queensland. From a detailed statement of the causes of deaths of infants in South Australia for the three years 1873-74-75, it appears that of the 3,641 deaths which occurred during these years from all causes, n> fewer than 2,249 were occasioned by bowel-complaints and their complications, The whole of this question, which is a vital one as affects the future of such of our colonies as are characterised by high summer temperature, can only be satisfactorily investi- gated by weekly or monthly statistics of deaths of infants from all causes taken in connection with the mean temperature and humidity of the air during the time. Thus the different summer temperatures and humidities of these colonies explain by far the larger proportion of the differences in the rates of their infantile mortality. All the differences, however, are not to be thus explained, and it is the investigation of these and the tracing of them to their causes which would likely lead to the adoption of improved sanitary and domestic arrangements. WE haye received from the Scottish Meteorological Society a communication from Mr. Thorlacius, their observer in the north-we.t of Iceland, in which he states that the spring there was stormy and cold, but that, in direct contrast to what has prevailed in the British Islands, the summer had been very fine and warm up to the date of writing (September 23), and the rainfall very small during June, July, and August. Pastures had, in consequence, suffered much, and the hay crop turned out to be generally a very poor one. This has, however, been to some extent counterbalanced by the admirable state in which the hay harvest has been secured, so that most can look forward to the coming winter without uneasiness, even though it should prove severe. Since April they have heard nothing of the Greenland ice, always a subject of no little anxiety in these parts, the ice having fortunately kept away from the coast of Iceland. The Danish man-of-war schooner Zngolf, Capt Mourier, cruised this summer close to the coasts of Greenland, but could effect no landing, owing to a belt of ice he could not force his way through, which lay along the shore for a distance of from twelve to sixteen miles, The Captain sailed along the coast, taking several bearings by the way, from Stewart’s Island to Cape Dow, or from 69° to 65° 30’ lat. N., thus sailing in a ‘south- westerly direction along the coast of Greenland, which lies opposite the north-west of Iceland, at a distance of about 120 nautical miles. This shore has not been previously explored, no one having probably ever had an opportunily of getting so close in shore before. The strait between Iceland and Greenland was this summer, which very rarely happens, quite open for naviga- tion, except the inconsiderable belt of ice immediately outside the coast of Greealand. Capt. Mourier had special instructions from the Danish government in regard to this exploration, and it is considered likely that the explorations on this ‘little-known coast will be resumed, These meteorological and geographical facts are important in relation to the more southerly course than usual recently taken by our European storms, and the easterly and northerly winds re-ulting therefrom, to which we owe the all but unexampled cold dull weather of the ; ast twelve months. Tue ‘Results of Observations in Meteorolosy, Terrestrial Maynetism, &c., made in Victoria during 1876,” under the superintendence of Kk, L. J. Ellery, have been received. The methods of making and reducing the observations are detailed at length in the preface. The chief feature of the Report is its purely statistical character, there being no attewpt to state the outstanding points of interest in the meteorology of the year in this part of Australia, To some extent, however, this want is compensated for by there being given with each month’s detailed results the averages for that month of pre-sure, temperature, humidity, and raiifall, calculate from all previous ob:ervations in the office—toyeiher with particularly full data of electrical phenomena, hail, snow, frost, fogs, hot winds, storms of winds, and heavy rainfalls of half an inch and upwards within the twenty-four hours at the thirty-eight rain stations over the colony. Nov. 13, 1879] NATURE 49 These hot winds are not merely of local interest to the colonists, but of general interest in matters affecting the atmospheric circu- ~ lation of the continent of Australia, and as affording facilities to 1 ne the meteorologists of that region in the study of whirlwinds and other cyclonic movements, the correct theory of which science has still to propound. The frequency of these hot winds at Wilson’s Promontory, the most southern point in Victoria and completely enveloped by the sea, is noteworthy, as also the instance which occurred on March 14, when on the surface the wind was cool and damp, whereas a hot wind was blowing 50 feet high on the lighthouse balcony, The discussion of the wind observations is a valuable piece of work, These show an excess of atmospheric movement in the warmer months and during the hottest hours of the day, the velocity of the wind in summer increasing from 7°13 miles an hour from 2 to 3 A.M. to 15°97 miles from 2 to 3 P.M. During 1876, which was remarkable for the absence of sun-spots, the aurora australis was only seen once, viz., between 3 and 4 A.M. of April 26 at Kyneton. GEOGRAPHICAL NOTES Tue Germans have so deservedly earned a distinguished repu- tation as scientific geographers, that it is quite pleasing to catch one very sericusly tripping in geographical matters, In Philip Leopold Martius’s ‘‘Das Leben der Hauskatze und ihrer Ver- wandten ’ (Weimar: B. F. Voigt, 1877), in the part of the work treating of the varieties of the domestic cat, appears (s. 61) the following extraordinary statement: ‘‘ Die schwanzlose Katze von der Insel Man im stillen Ocean wenn nicht das Kap Man auf Borneo Airunter zu verstehen, ist wohl noch nie zu uns nach Deutschland gekommen, obzleich sie auf der Katzenausstellung in London einst vertreten war,” The author goes on to express his earnest wish that a pair of these great rarities, Manx cats, may be procured and exhibited at some zoological garden, Manxmen will hardly thank him for placing their native isle in the Pacific Ocean and confounding them with Polynesians, but the suggestion as the result of ponderous research that after all perhaps such a place as the Isle of Man does not exist, but that its mythical development has arisen from a mistake as toa cape of the same name in Borneo is too delicious altogether, and so ingenious and thoroughly German that it must needs be recorded for the benefit of the readers of NATURE. Dr. NACHTIGAL, has communicated to the Berlin Geographical Society fall particulars as to the misfortune lately suffered by Gerhard Rohlfs’ expedition in North Africa. Rohlfs and his companions, who were plundered and detained while exploring the Kufara Oasis, and compelled to return to Bengazi, were relieved by the intervention of the Foreign Office under assur- ance that complete reparation |would be made them. The explorers’ travelling effects, along with gifts sent by the German Emperor for the Sultan of Wadai, require to be supplemented and renewed, though it is almost certain the expedition will still be able to proceed in accordance with its previous plan. Dr. Lenz, it was announced at thesame meeting, had lately gone to Morocco on a geological survey, which he would subsequently extend eastwards into the Sahara, Ar the opening of the Geographical Society’s Session on Monday last, the Earl of Northbrook, the president, briefly reviewed the work of travellers and geographers during the past few months, and spoke in very eulogistic terms of Prof, Norden- skjéld’s great achievement. ‘Ihe most noteworthy feature, however, in the address, was the statement that news had been received that morning from the expedition despatched by the African Explora- tion Fund Committee to the head of Lake Nyassa. Nothing had been heard of its whereabouts since the death of Mr. Johnston, except a rumour as to its progress, gathered by an Arab from native sources, and lately communicated by Dr, Kirk through the Foreign Office. Mr, Thomson reports that he has arrived, within comparatively few days’ march of the lake, in the country of Uhéhe. Lord Northbrook read some interesting extracts from Mr. Thomson’s journal which will, no doubt, soon be published by the Society. Mr. Clements R, Markham then read a summary which he had drawn up of a paper-on the exploration of Central Sumatra, prepared by Prof, P. J. Veth, President of the Dutch Geographical Society. One of the main results of the late Dutch expedition, was the discovery that the Jambi River, which should be known by its native name of Batang Hari, was navigable for nearly 400 miles. It was announced that at the next meeting a paper would be read which had been written by Captain A, H. Markham, descriptive of his Arctic cruise during the summer in the /s/jérn and of the work of the Dutch Expe- dition in the I7/lem Barents, Captain Bruijne, its com- mander, has kindly promised to attend the meeting. Lord Northbrook also stated that hopes were entertained of Dr. Emil Holub being able to give an account of his remarkable journeys in South Central Africa on January 12. IN an account which he has sent home to the Church Mis- sionary Society, of the tribes on the road to Mpwapwa, Mr. J. E. Last tells us that the third tribe from the coast is that of the Wanguru. In going from Saadani to Mpwapwa caravans pass through the southern limits of their country. These Wanguru seem to be a scattered people, but they are found in great numbers living among the mountains north of Kwa Masenyo, one of their chief villages. There they cultivate the ground on a large scale, growing rice plentifully and all the common native produce ; ginger is found in great abundance, They also grow a great deal of tobacco, and three native medicines not known among other tribes. One is the seed-pod of the mdaha, in form very like a piece of rough stick, and when ground it is very hot to the palate. The other two are vegetable fats produced from seeds, and are much in vogue as medicines at Zanzibar, as well as on the coast and inland. The French Roman Catholic mission have had a station among this tribe for some little time. News has been received from Zanzibar that another expedition has started from Bagamoyo for the interior. It is despatched by M. Lavigerie, Archbishop of Algiers, and consists of eighteen Europeans, of whom six are laymen. Their object is to reinforce the Algerian missionary stations at Ujiji and at King Mtesa’s capital, The expedition is under the leadership of the Abbé Guyon. THE new number of Les Annales de l’Extréme Orient contains papers on the Belep group and the fauna of the Indian Archi- pelago, the former of which is illustrated by a map. THE fame of the newly discovered sapphire mines in Siam is so great that great numbers of Burmese and Shans are said to be flocking thither. The mania appears also to have attacked part of the European community in Rangoon, THE November number of etermann’s Mittheilungen con- tains a reduced copy of the geological map of India from Medlicott and Blanford’s ‘‘ Preliminary Sketch.” The narra- tive of Dr, Regel’s journeys in Central Asia is concluded, and is followed by an interesting account of the trade and industry of Werchojansk and Kolymsk circles, in North-East Siberia, and an eclectic article on the region about the sources of the Santa-Cruz, in Patagonia, with a map illustrating Moreno’s journeys in 1876-7. There is also a map accompanying the paper on Dr, Regel’s journeys. Amonc the papers in the September number of the Audéletin of the Paris Geographical Society, the one of most scientific value is Commander Perrier’s lecture on the measurement of longitudes in France. M. Ed, Cineré ‘describes his journey in South America, mainly the United States of Columbia, in 1875-6. There are two interesting letters on the Oxus question, by M. Woeikoff, with a note by M. Vivien de St. Martin, anda paper by the Abbé Durand on Pére Dupayrett’s journeys in South Africa, There is also an interesting unpublished letter of Dagelet, the astronomer attached to the expedition of La Perouse. THE general council of Constantine (Algeria) has appointed a commission for determining the /vacé of the Transaharian railway. It has been already determined by the commission to publish a projet, by M. Peltreau, on the section from Constantine to Juggurt by Biskra and Oued Birh, IN the last session of the Geographical Society of Paris a very interesting «ixcussion took place on the possibility of using elephants from India in South African exploration. It was considered more advantageous to try to use the native elephants after being trained on the Indian method, It was stared that a number of African elephants had been also sent to India in order to be tamed there. M., Soleillet remarked that elephants can nowhere be met in India except in well-watered places, so that they must be used in Africa, in countries offering some analogy with such regions where they can live without difficulty, M. Pauw SoLeiLtuet will leave very shortly for St. Louis (Senegal) in order to proceed on his intended journey to Segou- Sokkoro and thence to Timbuctoo. He has received funds from 50 M. Ferry, the Minister for Public Instruction, enabling him to take with him a trained botanist. In his last address before the Geographical Society of Paris he entered into many interesting details showing that the negro populations of the region he is to visit were half-civilised races susceptible of intercourse with European nations. THE public subscription for M. Miclucho-Maclay gives very good results. On November 1 the sum had already reached, at the Go/os office alone, above 2,786 roubles (about 278/.) UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL INTELLIGENCE CAMBRIDGE.—The anniversary dinner of the Cambridge Philosophical Society is to take place in the new hall of Pem- broke College on November 29, at 7.15, under Prof. Newton’s presidency. The occasion will be clouded by many memories of Professors Maxwell and Garrod. The Botanic Gardens Syndicate are to obtain plans and esti- mates for the erection of a curator’s house in the Garden, There is much questioning as to Dr. Power’s justification for regarding the coming changes as a ‘‘revolution,” especially in laying down the office of Vice-Chancellor. A reform in which the University concurs to a great extent can hardly be regarded with such grave anxiety. Dr. Power, in the speech referred to, said that the new comparative anatomy buildings had been for a considerable period in use, although the dispute as to the re- spective liabilities of the University, the architect, and the con- tractors for the accident to the roof and floors is not yet settled. The recent addition to the rooms for human anatomy had proved satisfactory. Dr. Power again warned the University of the rapid rate of increase of permanent expenditure and the very uncertain nature of the income, depending so largely on the fees and dues from members of the University. He acknowledged that the department of chemistry had been existing on a starva- tion allowance, and that some professors and lecturers had been paying heavy expenses out of their own pockets rather than make fresh demands on the already overburdened finances of the University. Dr. E. H. Perowne enjoys the singular felicity of having become Master of Corpus Christi and Vice-Chancellor in one year. Mr. G. F. Browne, the senior proctor, desires to main- tain strongly the college system as against the lodging-house system, especially in regard to discipline. But this would not involve any diminution in the urgent need for more thorough University science-teaching, and the more complete recognition as a duty, of banishing the mere schoolboy and the idler, or the mere athlete, to the schools or elsewhere, instead of employing such ability as is here set to lecture in the ABC of subjects. At Christ’s College it is proposed to give open scholarships and exhibitions in natural science for entrance in October, 1880, by examination on Friday, March 19, and following days. He must show that he will probably be able to pass the “‘ Little-go ” at latest by the end of his third term of residence. A candidate may gain a scholarship for mathematics or classics in combina- tion with natural science. No candidate will be admitted who has kept any actual terms by residence, but there will be no limitation of age- In mathematics there will be papers in Euclid, algebra, plane trigonometry, and conic sections, geo- metrical and analytical. Candidates for natural science scholar- ships must all take chemistry, and also either physics or biology in addition. The principles of spectrum analysis are included in theoretical chemistry, physical measurements and manipula- tions in physics; also statics, dynamics, optics, heat, and elec- tricity ; in biology the conditions are exceedingly well stated, as—Fiysiology : Fundamental principles of the chief physio- logical processes of plants and animals ; general histology of their principal organs; A/orphology : Fundamental principles of morphology as illustrated by forms representing the principal classes of the vegetable and animal kingdoms ; principles of the classification of plants and animals; practical microscopical examination of the various tissues ; dissection and description of typical plants and animals. The examinations will be held in common with those at Emmanuel and Sidney Sussex Colleges, as before. The last Report of the Board of Natural Sciences Studies was to be offered for confirmation to-day (Thursday), at 2 P.M., and it was expected to be non-placeted, although it might be carried on a division, NATURE [Wov. 13, 1879 PRoF, BURDON-SANDERSON announces that he will begin 2 course of weekly lectures at University College, Gower Street, to ladies, on physiology, on Friday the 2ist, at 4 P.M. The- first lecture will be public. Mr. P. R. Scott LAnc, M.A., B.Sc., F.R.S.E., who has: for some years been assistant to the Professor of Natural Philo- sophy—Prof. Tait—in the University of Edinburgh, has been appointed by the Queen to the chair of mathematics in the University of St. Andrews. Mr. MARK FirtH has signified his wish to found a chair of chemistry in connection with Firth College, Sheffield. He pro- poses to invest a sum sufficient to produce an annual income of 150/,, and this, together with the fees of students, will amount, it is believed, to a sufficient sum. Mr. Firth proposes that the appointment shall be first filled by Dr. Carnelly, Owens College, Manchester, _ THOSE of our readers interested in the higher education of girls may be glad to know that a Calendar of Queen’s College, Harley Street, has been published. THE Golos learns, according to the Zimes Berlin correspondent, that the Russian Government intends thoroughly changing the statutes of the University of Dorpat, in Livonia, that strong bulwark of German science and culture. Among the proposed alterations now under consideration in the Imperial Council, the chief one aims at restricting certain liberties hitherto enjoyed by German-speaking students and subjecting them to police sur- veillance similar to that now in force at all other Russian Universities. SCIENTIFIC SERIALS The American Fournal of Science and Arts, October.—Arw examination of the chemical composition of amblygonite, by Mr. Penfield, leads him to give a new and more simple formula for the mineral. He shows that the hydroxyl group in ambly- gonite is isomorphous with fluorine.—From general geological sections in Iowa, Mr. McGee concludes that residuary clays and others of equal compactness were passed over by a thick ice- sheet with or without serious disturbance, and that the plane of contact between glacial drift and subjacent residuary clay is not always clearly defined.—Mr. Dale describes a peculiar fault at Rondout.—The first portion of a research, by Mr. Gibbs, on the vapour densities of peroxide of nitrogen, formic acid, acetic acid, and perchloride of phosphorus, is given, and the two remaining papers are from English publications (Crookes on radiant matter, and Draper on oxygen in the sun). The American Naturalist, October.—John A. Ryder, an account of anewgenus of minute pauropod myriapod (with figures).—Wm.- Barbeck, on microscopical fungi attacking our cereals.—C. L- Herrick, fresh-water entomostraca (describes and figures Diap- tomus longicornis, n.sp.).—S. K. Lum, notes on the thrushes of the Washington Territory.—John Ford, the leather-turtle.— S. L. Frey, Were they mound-builders ?—Recent literature = Proceedings of scientific societies. The American Quarterly Microscopical Fournal, vol. i. No. 4. —Prof. S, A. Forbes, on some sensory structures of young dog- fishes.—Dr. C. L, Anderson, spores with a spore glossary.—Dr. J. J. Woodward, on the oblique illuminator, and on a new apertometer.—F. H. Wenham, on Prof. Smith’s apertometer. —John Mayall, on measuring aperture.—R. Hitchcock, aper~ ture, angular and numerical.—J. D, Hyatt, on the tongue of the honey-bee.—Thomas Taylor, on oleomargarine and butter.—W. C. Hubbard, Haeckel 7. Virchow.—Prof. Stowell, the origin and death of the red blood-corpuscle.—B. Eyferth, on the simplest forms of life—An announcement from the publishers states ‘‘that the existence of the Quarterly ceases with this number.” The editor found that it would be impossible for him to give the journal the necessary supervision during the coming year, hence the necessity of this suspension. Sournal of the Franklin Institute, October.—Prof. Thurston here publishes an investigation of the strength of American timber, several varieties of which (white and yellow pine, locust, black walnut, white ash, white and live oak) were submitted to: testing machines in the Stevens Institute. The results show that American timber has a constructive value equal, if not decidedly superior, to European timber. (The numbers were almost invariably higher than those of Barlow, Tredgold, or : : i : Nov. 13, 1879] NATURE FE Lastett.) Timber yields, under all forms of stress, to an extent about proportional to the load.—Mr. James Smith sketches a plan for water-supply of Philadelphia, viz., a gravity-supply by aqueduct from Perkiomen.—A modification of Tisley’s com- pound pendulum, by Mr. Queen, of Philadelphia, whereby the motions and figures may be exhibited on a screen to large audiences, is described, and there is an account of the zinc veins and works of Lehigh Valley. Bulletin of the United States Geological and Geographical Sur- wey of the Territories, vol. v. No. 2, September.—J. A. Allen, on the Coatis (genus Nasua, Storr).—Dr. Coues, on the present status of Passer domesticus in America.—Dr. Peale, on the Laramie group of Western Wyoming and adjacent regions.—A, R, Grote, on Lithophane and some new Noctuidz (describes many new species).—Dr, A. White, Paleontological Papers, No. II., en carboniferous fossils from Colorado, Arizona, Utah, and Wyoming, and on cretaceous corals from Colorado (describes several new species).—F. V. Hayden, the so-called Two-Ocean Pass.—E. D. Cope, on the extinct species of Rhinoceridz of North America, and their allies.—Dr,. Coues, second instalment of American ornithological bibliography, Bulletin de PAcadémie Royale des Sciences de Belgique, No. 8.—M. Plateau here defends, at some length, his theory of the superficial viscosity of liquids in opposition to the theory of Signor Marangoni, who, without denying a viscosity proper to the surface and different from that of the interior, thinks its influence (¢.g., in retarding the movement of a needle on the surface) very small in comparison with that of other .causes, especially, in liquids which can be inflated in large bubbles, the elasticity of a layer of impurity (imbrattamento) arising from ex- posure in the air, while in liquids like water and most saline solutions, changes in tension, through alteration of the surface and changes in curvature of the menisci at the sides of the needle, &c,, are operative.—M, Petermann writes on the presence of grains of Lychnis githago in alimentary flour, and indicates a method ef detecting it.—There is also a paper on the quartziferous cba of Champ-Saint-Veron (Lembecq), by MM. Poussin and enard, Fournal de Physique, October.—On the inscription of meteoro- logical phenomena, particularly electricity and pressure, by M, Mascart.—On the rectifying apparatus of M. Duboscq, by M, Bertin.—On a phenomenon similar to Peltier’s phenomenon, by M. Bouty.—A regulator of temperature, by M. Benoit. Cosmos, 5 Heft, August.—Prof. Dr. Schultze, history of the erigin of the “‘ Despising” of Nature.—Emnst Haeckel, on the common relationship between the ctenophora and the medusze, with an account of a form connecting the two groups. This extraordinary form is beautifully figured.—Dr. Mehlis, the barrowfield near Hagenau and its probable epoch.—Henry Potoni¢, Alexander Braun’s attitude towards the theory of descent.—Short notices and criticisms. THE Nyt Magazin for Naturvidenskaberne ( Christiania, vol. 24, _ pt. 4, and vol. 25, pt. 1).—From these parts we note the follow- a ing papers :—On the geology of the Folge Fon peninsula, by T. Ch. Thomassen.—On the conical of Matkeieon by Leonhard Stejneger.—On microline, a new species of triclinic potash-feldspar ; its ‘optical, crystallographical, and chemical characters, by A. Des Cloizeaux.—On the insect fauna of Dovrefjeld and the Gudbrands valley, by W. M. Schoyen.—On the changes which some plants undergo in northern latitudes by Prof. F. C. Schiibeler.—On the occurrence of iridium in northern minerals, by S, Wleugel.—On dislocation lines in the so-called Skrimfjeld, by O. E. Corneliussen.—Diary of a journey in the Trysil district, by L. Meinich.—Account of a botanical tour in Hardangervidden, by N. Wille.—On some contact rocks of the Christiania Silurian basin, by A, Penck. THE Verhandlungen der kk. geologischen Reichsanstalt No. 12, Vienna) contains the following papers :—On the miocene deposits at the south-western margin of the Galicio. Podolian Plateau, by J. Niedzwiedzki.—On the tertiary forma- ion at the eastern slope of the Vogelsberg, by H. Biicking,— _ On the pliocene mammal-fauna of Hungary, by Th. Fuchs.— _ On the Flysch question, by the same.—On the geological objects exhibited at Teplitz and relating to the Teplitz basin, by R, Raffelt—On the marginal mountains of the Vienna bay, by _ Franz Toula—The number further contains the following ports of geological excursions undertaken by different members f the Reichsanstalt, viz. : by Dr.’O, Lenz from Eastern Galicia, by Dr. Edmund von Mojsisovics from Bosnia, by E. Tietze from Eastern Bosnia, and by Dr, A. Bittner from the Herzegowina, SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES LonDON Linnean Society, November 6.—Prof. Allman, in the chair.—Mr, W. H. Twelvetrees (of Orenburg, elected a Fellow of the Society.—The President, in opening the session, briefly alluded to the demise of Mr. W. Wilson Saunders and Mr. John Miers, whose scientific and official Jabours in con- nection with the Society have been well appreciated.—Mr. W. T. Thiselton Dyer exhibited and made remarks on some photo- graphs of vegetation, including Cinchona Ledveriana, in the Botanic Garden of Buitenzorg, Java.—Mr. D. Morris, recently returned from investigating the coffee-leaf disease of Ceylon and South India, read a paper on the structure and habit of Hemileia vastatrix, He supports the Rey. R, Abbay’s state- ments as to the destructive character of the fungus and its evident gradual extension over the coffee-producing regions of the East ; he even expresses fears of its ultimately being carried to the West Indies and Brazil ;—2,000,000/., the estimated annual deficiency in Ceylon alone, is no mean sum to be debited from the revenue and interests of the planters. Mr, Abbay has described the spores as attached to the inner surface of the orange-yellow sporanges (a notion opposed to received ideas respecting free cell formation); but Mr. Morris’s observations are opposed to those of the former. The author explains the hitherto puzzling dark brown bodies beneath the sporanges as composed of closely interwoven threads of mycelium. During February, March, and April, both bark and leaves are every- where covered exteriorly by mycelial filamentous threads which reproduce by germinating spores. In the wet weather these do not enter the stomata. It is in this stage that conidial growth supervenes according to Abbay (secondary spores of Thwaites), but the author has failed to substantiate this phase, though starved plants on glass slides raised conidia, It is during the fila- mentous stage before penetration that remedial agents—dusting with sulphur and lime, &c,—haye a chance of being effective ; but a serious disturbing element offers in the large area of aban- doned crop still continuing to propagate the fungus.—Dr. F. Day read a paper on the instincts and emotions of fish. Biologists of late have been less attracted by the faculties of fish than of other animals, and even Cuvier’s estimate of their total want of intelligence has been quite recently quoted asauthentic. Theauthor combats this notion, and, from his own experience and data afforded by other writers, claims evidence of emotions and affec- tions. He shows they construct nests, transport their eggs, protect and defend their young, exhibit affection for each other, recog- nise human beings, can be tamed, manifest fear, anger, hatred, and revenge, utter sounds, hide from danger, betake them- selves for protection to the bodies of other animals, and have other peculiar modes of defence, leave the water for food, and even different families combine for attack and defence, Their faculties, notwithstanding, are greatly subordinated and modified compared with those of higher races of the vertebrata.—The Rev. G, Henslow read a paper on the origin of the (so-called) scorpioid cyme. He pointed out some errors in deducing this from the dichotomous cyme: 1, Opposite pairs of bracts, being succes- sively in planes at right angles, the resulting sympode would be a volute, and not a helix, 2. The position of the bracts (when present, as in Borage) are not opposite the flowers. 3. There are always fwo rows of flowers, not a single one. 4, {The appearance of a flower in the fork between the two branches of the inflorescence (as in AZyosofis) is not usual, and is due to the adhesion between the terminal and the highest axillary raceme. This has given rise to a false impression of dichotomy. 5. Authors have hitherto confounded the ‘true scorpioid raceme ” (Henslow) with spicate degradations of sympodial inflorescence. He refers it to the indefinite system, and explains its origin by a new principle of phyllotaxis, which he first discovered in Lagerstromia, viz., in resolving opposite and decussate leaves into alternate, instead of their lying on a continuous spiral line, the line osci//ates through three-fourths of a circle, and if a line be drawn from flower to bract, it will represent the so-called scorpioid cyme of Boraginez. Chemical Society, Nov. 6,—Mr. Warren Dela Rue, F.R.S., President, in the chair.—The following papers were read :-—On the transformation products of starch, by C. O'Sullivan, In this paper, which was originally presented to the Société Chi- president, Russia) was 52 mique de Paris on June 18, the author criticises the results pub- lished by MM. Musculus and Gruber, pointing out some errors into which they had fallen. He reasserts the fundamental facts of his former paper, viz., that starch splits up under the influence of malt extract in four principal ways. The author also investi- gates the action of malt extract on the products of the above reactions, He inclines to the belief that the dextrins are not a series of polymers, but rather a series of bodies of the same molecular weight, the molecules being arranged differently as regards one another, the molecules being arranged in groups all dependent on one another.—Note on the formule of the carbo- hydrates, by Dr. Armstrong. The author discusses the various formulz of glucose, and inclines to that which represents glucose as being an aldehyde and a penthydric alcohol ; the cane suzars are probably related to the glucoses as ether is to alcohol. The author discusses the probable arrangement of the molecules in starch, and arrives at a conclusion differing from that of O’Sulli- van.—On a new method of determining sulphur in coal, by Teikichi Nakamura of Tdki6, The author mixes intimately one part of finely-powdered coal with three or four parts of sodium carbonate and ignites very gradually, so that no smoke or odorous gases escape ; a white or reddish ash is left, which is treated with water, &c.—On the bromine derivatives of B naphthol, by A. J. Smith.—On the dissociation of ammonia iron alum, by J.S. Thomson. Dilute neutral solutions of ferric salts, when heated, deposit a basic salt ; this dissociation can be pre- vented by the addition of dilute sulphuric acid, By using sul- phuric acid of known strength, the author has studied the subject quantitatively. A solution of ammonia iron alum containing more than I grm. in 14°37 cc., does not dissociate; this dissociation begins in more dilute solutions, and increases regularly with successive additions of water ; ammonia and potash salts increase the dissociation.—On a methyl oxysuccinic acid, the product of the action of anhydrous hydrocyanic acid upon aceto-acetic ether, by G. H. Morris. —Demargay described an uncrystallis- able acid obtained as above, whose baryta salt was unstable. The author has repeated the experiments, and obtained a well- crystallised acid melting at 108°. The barium salt is stable when boiled with water.—On the action of phosgene on ammonia, by H. J. H. Fenton, The author has examined the white amor- phous substance obtained in the above reaction, and extracted guanidine and urea quite identical with ordinary urea, — On the rehydration of dehydrated metallic oxides, by C. F. Cross. The author has obtained various anhydrous basic metallic oxides by igniting the hydrates. These oxides, when exposed to a satu- rated atmosphere, absorb water up to a definite limit of a mole- cular character, The investigation includes oxides of aluminium, chromium, cobalt, iron, and copper.—On alizarin blue, by G. Auerbach, The author gives the method of preparing and purifying this substance; when pure it forms brown, shining needles, melting 268°-270°. He has also prepared various salts and bromo derivatives; the actions of zinc dust, chlorine, and acetic anhydride were studied. In constitution the author thinks the body must be closely related to the aldchydines of Ladenburg. Paris Academy of Sciences, November 3.—M. Daubrée in the chair.—M. Mouchez presented the last published volume of Annales de 1 Observatoire de Paris, giving observations made in 1876. He stated that the Ministry of Public Education had decided that a certain number of astronomical students should be ad nitted to the Observatory for two years’ instruction and practice, after which those found fit should be appointed as istant astronomers in government observatories.—Nautical instructions on the coasts of Algeria, by M. Mouchez. The volume he presented describes first the meteorology, then the physical character of the coast.—Experiments with an inverted syphon haying two horizontal branches, capable of raising water without a movable piece to considerable heights relatively to that of waves, or to exhaust at considerable depths relatively to the hollow of waves, when a retaining valve system is added, by M. De Caligny.—On some pathological states of the tympanum, causing nervous phenomena, which Flourens and De Goltz attribute exclusively to the semicircular canals, by M. Bonnafont. Displacement of the tympan c membrane away from or towards the internal wall of the tympanic cavity (eg. in the latter case, by a concretion of wax or polypous excrescence), causes, through the chain of small bones, variations of pressure of the liquids in the vestibule and semicircular canals, with consequent giddiness, staggering, &e.—On the abnormal spectrum of ight, by M, Dz Klercker. Two hollow glass prisms having NATURE [Wov. 13, 1879 the same angle (25°) and filled with alcohol, are placed on the stage of spectroscope with their refringent angles in opposite directions ; the image of the slit is notdeflected. To one prism are then added crystals of fuchsine ; the original image then divides into two parts, one going to the right and widening into a distinct regular spectrum of the less refrangible rays ; the other remains in the same place without widening, and takes a blue- violet colour, ferent amount of retardation by molecules of different species in the solution. —On determination of the elements of a vibratory mo'ion ; measurement of amplitudes, by M. Mercadier. He uses a (so-called) vibrating micrometer.—Stomachic digestion and duodenal digestion; action of pancreatine, by M. Defresne. Hydrochloric acid in gastric juice is combined with an organic base which moderates its action and changes its properties. The acidity of mixed gastric juice, half an hour after ingestion, is no longer due to chlorhydrate of leucine, but to lactic, sarco-lactic, tartaric, malic, and other acids. The best reagent of this transformation is pancreatine. This difference in acidity of pure and mixed gastric juice becomes still more manifest, in arti cial digestion of nitrogenised food.—Result of researches into the origin of reinvasions of phyiloxera, by M. Faucon. He con- tends for the superiority of submersion to insecticides, and indicates a method.—On uniform analytic functions in the neighbourhsod of a singular essential point, by M. Picard.— On the ultra-violet absorption spectra of nitric and nitrous ethers, by MM. Soret and Rilliet. ‘The known characters of the absorption spectra of metallic nitrates are not met with in nitric ethers. A solution of amylnitrous ether gives six absorp- tion bands between H and R.—On a new stellar spectroscope, by M. Thollon. He uses two compound direct-vision prisms of special form (one in the collimator, the other in the telescope tube), whereby he seeks to reduce the loss of light as much as possible. The larger of the simple (or component) prisms has an angle of 100°, and contains a mixture of ether and sulphide of carbon; and two rectangular prisms of crown glass (one on either side) have faces parallel to each other and to the bisecting line of the angle of 100°.—On the tensions of vapour of saline solutions, by M. Pauchon. The value of coefficient a, in Kirchhoff’s formula, varies continually with the concentration, in some cases increasing, in others diminishing. —On an electro-capillary thermometer, by M. Debrun, The principle is that mechanical action deforming a mercury meniscus like that in Lippmann’s electrometer, pro- duces a current.—On animal cellulose or tunicine, by M. Franchiment. The difference between animal and plant cellu- lose, if such exist, is not due to a difference of the groups CgH 90, forming it, but to a difference in the manner of their union,—Researches on the different modes of combination of phosphoric acid in the nervous substance, by M. Jolly. In the calf the brain is very rich in phosphorised elements ; in the grown ox itis the spinal cord that contains most of them ; and after alkaline phosphates, phosphate of iron is the most abundant.— Onhairs and hairy glands in some kinds of Nympheaceze, by M. Heckel.—On the growth of stems of dicotyledonous trees, and on the descending sap, by M. Guinier. He thinks it is perhaps time to renounce the ordinary theory of descending sap. CONTENTS Pace DEMONOLOGY AND DeviL-LORE. - «+ 6 + © © © «© «© © © © © © 29 Our Book SHELF :— Fritsch’s “* Fauna der Gaskohle und der Kalksteine der Permforma- tion Bdhmens.”—P. M.D... . . . + - > 66 bn, ee Letters TO THE EDITOR :— ‘An Account of some Marine Animals met with ex route to the Cape September 21, 22.—Capt. F, Propy Doucuty. . « + » « + 32 Easter Island.—H. N. Moserey, F.R.S. -_. «+ + + s+ = 32 eo ee in the Curlew Mountains.—Prof. Epwarp Hutt, Lunar Ring.—Dr. Grorce Berwick (With Diagram). + » + + 33 Phosphorescence.—RatpH CorELAND. « + « «© © © * * * + 33 The ‘‘ False Dawn.”’—J. W. REDHOUSE « - «+ + + + © © * + 33 The Caudal Disk.—E. H. PRINGLE . 21 © » © © © © ¢ 9 © 34 Intellect in Brutes—S. E. PzAL. « « + «© = © © ss 2 8 5 34 A Cocuin-Cuina Remepy For Leprosy. By W. T. TurseLTon DYER. 35 Some Points In THE History oF SrecrruM AnAxysis. By Dr. B. SrewaArrt, F.R.S. |. Teun: ee age Se eee SO en eae Tue SwepisH Norto-East PassAGE RXPEDITION - - + + + + = 37 GaLiLeo AND THE AppLicaTION OF MaTuemarTics To Paysics. By WiuiaM Jack, M.A., LL.D., F-R.S.E. (2th Illustration). . . 4° James CLEKK MaxweLt, F.R.S. By WM. GARNETT « «© + + + + 43 Nores aR EE es ne sn. oS. oie METEOROLOGICAL NOTES . «© © e * © © * © * *© © # #8 48 GsocraPuican NOTREic ome tle et elle: © 0 Sey ee Ao Usivexsity AND EpuCATIONAL INTELLIGENCB «+ + © + + * + 5° Screntiric SERIALS « 2 e © + * * © * & ah cal aieds! oti SocieTtes AND ACADEMIES. «© © + + © 2 © & ae asker oF i, 51 M. De Klercker attributes the effect to the dif-. NATURE THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 1879 THE DOUBLE STARS A Handbook of Double Stars. By Edward Crossley, F.R.A.S., Joseph Gledhill, F.R.A.S., and James M. Wilson, M.A., F.R.A.S. (London: Macmillan and Co., 1879.) Double Star Observations made in 1877-78 at Chicago with the 183-inch Refractor of the Dearborn Observa- tory, &c. By Sherburne Wesley Burnham, M.A. (From Memoirs of the Royal Astronomical Society, vol. xliv.) T cannot be said that a special work upon the double and compound stars has not been long a desideratum. Of the various branches of astronomical science the study of the double stars appears to have formed one of the most attractive to amateurs generally; so far as the reduction of the observations is concerned it involves little calculation, and the observations themselves are not laborious but admit of being proceeded with at intervals of leisure, with comparatively moderate appliances, at least in a large number of cases. Many of our amateurs have their daily duties and occupations in other lines, and seek relief in their evenings from the monotony of routine; the observation of the double stars upon a well-arranged list perhaps offers as favourable opportunities for render- ing themselves really useful and for doing really good work in astronomy without the labour of one kind or another involved in several other classes of observation as it is possible to find. The branch of astronomy to which we are referring has progressed as rapidly as others, and the observations of double stars and particulars relating to them have been scattered through a large number of astronomical publi- cations, to consult which involves a great outlay of time and trouble, even if they are accessible without difficulty. The main purpose of the volume before us has been to present the great majority of measures of some twelve hundred double stars in a convenient form, with notes bearing upon binary character or other peculiarity, or, speaking generally, to furnish a history of each star. Part I. is introductory or explanatory, containing a brief historical notice and reference to those astronomers who have been most occupied upon the double stars, with particulars of the instruments employed, the adjustments of the equatorial, the micrometer and methods of observ- ing with it, forms for registering measures and similar details. Part II., which possesses considerable value, treats of the calculation of the orbits of the revolving double stars, and in this division of the work the authors have been fortunate in being assisted by Dr. Doberck, who has a greater experience in this direction than any other astronomer of the day, and who has contributed in so important a degree to advance our knowledge of the elements of these revolving suns. Sir John Herschel’s graphical process for determining the apparent orbit which is still of such material assistance towards more refined investigation is explained and illustrated (which is better still) by an application to Castor, This is followed by the calculation of an orbit by analytical methods, applied to « Coronz, the different steps being clearly VoL, XXI,.—No. 525 53 defined, but these methods are necessarily much more laborious, and at present we do not seem_to get the full advantage in many cases that might be expected from them. It will be no fault of Dr. Doberck’s if the com- puter does not succeed in obtaining elements upon the principles he so well explains, which will continue to represent the motion of the star. Other causes frequently operate, however, which appear to render elements less satisfactory for Jrediction than might be expected, con- sidering the refinement used in their calculation. The comparison of Dr. Doberck’s orbit of « Coronz with observation affords a very close agreement. In the next three chapters Mr. Wilson enters upon relative rectilinear motion, the effect of proper motion and parallax on the observed angles and distances of a star optically double, and the errors and combination of observations. Part III., “the Catalogue and Measures,” prepared by Mr. Gledhill, is that which will be most frequently con- sulted. Considerable care appears to have been taken in the selection of the objects, and in the collection of the measures by various observers. A great amount of trouble must have been expended upon this portion of the volume, which is well brought up to date, and few facts of importance bearing upon the history of any object appear to have been overlooked, though such omissions must almost necessarily occur sometimes in a work of this character. There has evidently been the wish to make this part of the work as useful as possible - to the amateur. Perhaps in a short supplement to another edition it may be desirable to reproduce the double star measures with the K6énigsberg heliometer, collected in vol, xxxv. of the Observations at that Observatory, the more especially as these volumes of observations have but a small circulation in this country; we miss most of these measures in the ‘‘ Handbook.” An appendix contains the positions and measures of two hundred of Mr. Burnham’s new double stars, placed at the service of the authors by the discoverer. Part IV. is bibliographical, and supplies’ a list of the principal works and papers relating to double stars and upon various forms of micrometer. The volume is one which may be expected to find its way to the shelves of most amateurs and students of astronomy. Mr. Burnham’s important contribution to vol. xliv. of the Memoirs of the Royal Astronomical Society, contains (1) a catalogue of 251 new double stars with measures, and (2) micrometrical measures of 500 objects, amongst them some very difficult ones and a number of evident binaries. At the time the Chicago Astronomical Society was organised in 1862, Messrs. Alvan Clark and Sons had still in their possession an object-glass of 184 inches aperture, which was then the largest in the world. Steps were taken to secure it, and, thanks to the energy of the Hons. Thomas Hoyne and J. Young Scammon, the latter of whom has been president of the Society from its organisation, the glass was secured for Chicago, and by means of a public subscription 18,000 dollars were raised for its complete mounting, and Mr. Scammon contributed 30,000 in addition for the building. Fortunately an ob- server equal to the use of so fine an instrument was at hand, and latterly Mr. Burnham has devoted it to the D 54 NATURE [Nov. 20, 1879 discovery of new double stars and the revision of an extensive list of known ones which appeared most deserving of attention. He remarks: ‘‘My work has been wholly a labour of love. During the business hours of every day I have been otherwise fully occupied, and hence my observations have been prosecuted often at the expense of rest, sleep, and recreation. I submit the results to the Royal Astronomical Society as the first contribution of the great equatorial of the Dearborn Observatory,’ Mr. Burnham had however published, between 1873 and 1877, #ze smaller lists of new double stars, containing 482 in all; the present catalogue brings up the number to 733; indeed, his energy and success have been alike extraordinary. In looking over this tenth catalogue of new doubles, many objects are noted which deserve more or less atten- tion. » Piscium,a star of the fourth magnitude, has a companion of the eleventh at a distance of one second, and “there is no known pair among stars of this magni- tude or brighter, with so close and minute a companion.”’ Three stars have been found near the celebrated variable, Algo/, all three closer than Schréter’s companion ; one of 12'5m. is distant only 10’°6 on an angle of 115°. There are also three new doubles amongst the Pleiades, and a much nearer companion to A/debarvan than that observed by Herschel and Struve. In an object in R.A, (1880’0), 2th. 1m. 25s., and Decl. +43° 12’, Mr. Burnham finds the most minute close pair known and terms it ‘‘a curiosity in double stars, if for no other reason ;” it is too small for Argelander’s Durchmusterung ; the components are about equal and near 11m., distance 04. There are two faint companions to Herschel’s “ Garnet-star’’ in Cepheus, and not the least interesting addition is a comes of 12°5m. preceding nearly on the parallel, by 0’*7, the star 85 Pegasi, which has large proper motion and a sensible parallax according to the investigations of Prof. Briinnow at Dunsink; as Mr. Burnham remarks the physical con- nection or otherwise of the faint star should be soon decided. In the second catalogue, as we have stated above, there are many binary systems, the Chicago observations either confirming previous deductions or indicating new objects in motion. Mr. Burnham doubts the duplicity of Ailas Pleiadum, though Struve considered that confidence might be placed in his measures of 1827, an inference somewhat supported by Dr. Hartwig’s observation on the occultation of the star by the moon in 1876. An examina- tion of the interior of the trapezium of Orion, afforded not the slightest suspicion of any additional stars, and hence Mr. Burnham concludes that several faint objects supposed to have been seen within it, with smaller tele- scopes, have no real existence, and he expresses the same Opinion as to recent suspected companions of the Pole- star. He shows good reason fox inferring that one of the components of = 1058 is variable; the brighter star is missing in more than one catalogue where it might be expected to be found, and in 1878 a thorough search did not reveal any double star near its place, but in the early part of the present year he has been more successful and has measured the star on two nights, when the magnitudes were respectively 8 and 11. A reference to Mr. Burnham’s notes will afford a number of other objects to which special interest attaches. OUR BOOK SHELF The Saidapet Experimental Farm Manual and Guide. By C. Benson. (Madras, 1879.) THIS volume is published by the direction of the Madras Government, and consists of a Report by the Super- intendent of the more important results obtained at the experimental farm since its commencement in 1865. An agricultural college has been recently added to the farm establishment, but this educational work lies beyond the scope of the present volume. Of the value of the work done on this experimental farm there can be no question ; the Government money spent on it has been well laid out. If the miserable and profitless native systems of agriculture are to be improved, and the land made capable of sup- porting the rapidly increasing population, it must be by the adoption of the methods here recommended. In the native agriculture the soil is stirred to the depth of 3 inches only, manure is seldom employed, and grain crops are generally the only ones cultivated; the land is thus reduced to its lowest limit of productiveness. Irri- gation is also most wastefully conducted. Eight to twelve feet of water are consumed in the production of a single crop of paddy, the ground being turned into a swamp, and frequently becoming a source of disease to the sur- rounding population, The improvements recommended are in the first place a deeper cultivation of the soil, by which its porosity and water-holding power would be increased, and the root development of the crop favoured. An English plough is said to cost twenty-five times the price of a native im- plement, but the work done is so superior that the increased outlay will be repaid during a single year’s cultivation of twenty acres. Many soils also require draining. The rainfall in India is at certain times of the year extremely heavy (16 inches have been recorded at Saidapet in twenty- four hours) ; on such occasions undrained land becomes for a long period unworkable, and much precious time is lost. Judicious drainage will not diminish the water holding power of heavy land, but rather increase it by promoting the disintegration of thesubsoil. Drainage is also greatly needed in many cases for irrigated land; without this the water may become stagnant and its good effect greatly diminished. The next improvement demanded is the adoption of a proper rotation of crops, in which fodder crops should hold an important place. The experiments have shown that a large number of excellent fodder crops exist, which can be cultivated if need be all the year round. The fodder crops most strongly recommended are cholum (Sorghum vulgare), and guinea grass (Panicum jumen- vorium). Sugar cane, where well manured, affords an immense amount of excellent fodder. Paddy may also be often usefully cut while green, and a good supply of fodder thus obtained when the quantity of water available is too small to carry the crop to maturity. Horse gram (Dolichos uniflorus) may also be grown with advantage asa fodder crop, and four or five cuttings may be obtained in the year. Being a leguminous plant, rich in nitrogen, it is of great use in bringing poor land into condition, and may be ploughed in as a green manuring with excellent effect. One great object of the growth of fodder crops is to enable the farmer to raise the condition of his soil by applications of organic manure ; to increase the amount of humic matter in the soil is a most important step towards amelioration in such a climate as that of India. The fodder crops should be consumed by cattle, kept, at least during the night, in loose boxes, and the manure thus obtained returned to the land. Other manures recom- mended are steeped cotton-seed, salpetre, bones, and lime. Until the condition of the land is raised by proper cul- tivation and manuring, a Jarge number of improvements must remain impossible. Superior grain crops, and _ Nov. 20, 1879] oe ES re Se superior varieties of rice and cotton, can only be grown on good soil ; on poor soil they at once deteriorate. The same may be said of live stock: the miserable native breeds are accustomed to starve during a part of every year ; such treatment would be fatal to better animals. Until good fodder crops are grown, any permanent im- provement in the breeds of farm animals is impracticable. _ We might easily extend our notice of this useful volume; it is full of practical information, and must prove of great value to all engaged in agricultural operations in India, Grundriss der chemischen Technologie. Von Dr. Jul. Post. Part ii, (Berlin: Robert Oppenheim, 1879.) WE have already noticed the first part of Dr. Post’s excellent manual of chemical technology (see vol. xvi., 83), which made its appearance towards the end of 1876. Unfortunately, the completion of the work has been delayed by the severe and prolonged illness of the editor. The first portion was mainly confined to a description of the modes of manufacture of crude or intermediate products ; the second part treats of the finished or final products. Objections might, doubtless, be raised against such a mode of treatment, but we question if, on the whole, 2 more systematic method of dealing with so complex a subject as chemical technology could have been devised. The entire work forms unquestionably one of the most, if not zie most, complete repertorium of the existing processes of industrial chemistry that we know of in any language, and as such we can confidently re- commend it to the notice of our chemical manufacturers. Dr. Post has been assisted by an excellent band of collaborators, many of whom are recognised as authorities on the subject of their respective communications. A due amount of space is usually devoted to a consideration of the theory of the various processes when this has been at all worked out; and the description of the mode in which these processes are actually carried into operation is facilitated by numerous diagrams and plans. Dr. Post is to be congratulated on the completion of an exceed- ingly useful work. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR | The Editor does not hold himseif responsible for opinions expressed by his correspondents, Neither can he undertake to return, or to correspond with the writers of, rejected manuscripts. No notice ts taken of anonymous communications, | The Editor urgently requests correspondents to heep their letters as short as possible, The pressure on his space is so great that it ts impossible otherwise to ensure the appearance even of com- munications containing interesting and novel facts.) The November Meteors THE cloudless sky from the morning of the 12th to the 1 5th, with the total absence of moonlight, afforded a most favour- able opportunity for the observation of the meteors of the jion, A constant watch was kept up at this observatory from fo P.M, until daybreak of the 13th, 14th, and 15th, and the results show that the Leonids were considerably in excess of what they had been during the last few years. The total number of meteors observed was 309, and out of these 104 radiated from the Lions, and 56 clearly indicated five principal radiant points. Four of the radiants were situated near the stars e, y, 5, and 7 Leonis, and the fifth was just below (31) Leonis Minoris, The position of this east point was very clearly marked by a stationary meteor of the rst magnitude, Wighty-six of the meteors were of the Ist or 2nd magnitude, and nine others were brighter than Ist magnitude stars, The largest number of Leonids seen during a single hour was fifteen, from 4 to 5 A.M., on the 14th. S. J. PERRY Stonyhurst Observatory, November 18 The Platysomid Fishes I AM very sorry to find that my esteemed friend Prof, H. _ Alleyne Nicholson has, in the new edition of his ‘Manual of NATURE 55 Palzontology” (vol. ii. p. 138, mofe) committed the mistake of quoting me as his authority for elevating the Platysomid fishes to the ‘‘rank of a distinct division of Ganoids.” No such proposition occurs in the unpublished paper to which he refers, which was written to follow up the views which I expressed in my account of the structure of the Palzoniscidze (Palzeontographical Society, 1877), as to the abolition of the sub-order ‘‘ Lepidopleuridz,” necessitated by the demonstration of the fact that the Platysomidz as a family are not really allied to the Pyenodontide, but are on the other hand so closely linked by tie: of structure to the Palzoniscida, that, wherever the latter family is placed, thither the Platysomide: must follow. My paper on the ‘‘ Structure and Affinities of the Platyso- midz” was read before the Royal Society of Edinburgh on May 5 of this year, and will in a few weeks appear in the forth- coming fasciculus of that Society’s Transactions. Prof, Nichol- son’s mistake as to my views is obviously due to his having only had, and that on one single occasion, a very hurried glance over my proof-sheets. R. H. TRaQuair 8, Dean Park Crescent, Edinburgh, November 12 Voice in Fish THE question as to whether fish have any so-called voice or means of intercommunication having some interest for your readers, I may relate that about six years ago, while engaged in a survey of the Disang iver in Eastern Asam, I had occasion to sound by a line the depth of a pool called the ‘‘ Deo Dubé” (or deep of the Demon), While seated in a small Rod Rey canoe and very slowly drifting on the pool, I became aware of a number of large Mahstr (Barbes macrocephalus) taoving about in the water below and around me. Sitting perfectly still I had the pleasure to see them gradually approach the surface and move about me at a foot or so distant, passing alongside, under and round the canoe carefully examining it, bow and stern specially, It may not be easy to guess a fish’s thoughts, but from the manner in which they examined my sym- metrical and grey coloured canoe they appeared to think it might possibly be a huge fish, and dead of course. While watching their movements I was aware of a peculiar “cluck,” or percussive sound—frequently repeated, on all sides, and coming from below, but close to me. Eventually I found that this was made by the Mahsir, and one—passing close along on my right, by itself, made several distinct sourds as it went on —that seemed answered by others to the left. If seated, say on the bank, the sound would be loud enough to be heard at 40 feet distance, A large bivalve also is common in some parts of Eastern Asai that sings loudly in concert. A small avt also makes a peculiar thrice-repeated noise by scraping in unison on the dry leaves of its nest if it is disturbed. S. E, PEAL Silurian Fossils in the ‘* Lower Old Red Sandstone” of the Curlew Mountain District Your correspondent in NATURE, vol. xxi. p. 32, on the above subject has evidently misunderstood the notice (NATURE, vol. xx, p. 641). The rocks in question, though belonging to what is generally known as the ‘‘ Old Red Sandstone,” contain Silurian fossils, which confirms the opinion of myself and others that the lower Old Red should be regarded as the upper part of the Silurian formation, G, HENRY KINAHAN, President of the Royal Geological Society of Dublin, November 17 Ireland The Paces of the Horse A GooD many ingenious contrivances have lately been invented by which to find out the true movements of the feet of the horse in its various paces, notably that described in ‘* A Siudy on Locomotion” which appeared in NATURE, vol. xx. pp. 434, 468, 488. My object in writing this letter is to challenge the assumption of all these experimenters that their diagrams should constrain artists to correct their representations of animals in motion. When, for instance, Prof, Marey says of his diagrams, “ these pictures are correct as regards the position of the members ; it would be the artist’s duty to add elegance of form,” it is appa- rent to me that such a division of labour would never produce a picture. Take Fig. 16, for instance, representing the true posi- tion of the legs in galloping, and I venture to say no amount of 56 NATURE = [WVov, 20, 1879 elegance added would conyey an idea of what the animal was doing. ’ I submit that the error which leads the experimenters so far is forgetting that the mechanism of the human eye has as much to do with the matter as the movements of the horse’s feet. Confining my argument to the gallop, I contend that the con- ventional extended attitude is true artistically, though it never actually takes place whilst the iiorse is at this pace. The eye (as is sufficiently proved by the need of machinery for finding out the actual*mofions of harses’ feet) does not obliterate and receive impressions sufficiently quickly to trace the three paces in the gallop; but it can note the fact that at some moment during each bound, each of the four reach this extreme point. Now the feet are twice as long at this point as at any other, that is to say, the passing out over and returning along the last inch is for the eye a pause at the extreme, It is no more doubtful A Curious Rainbow I sEND yon a rough sketch of a curious rainbow group seen in Gareloch about 8.25 A.M. on October 20. I would have written sooner but I delayed till I had obtained sketches from several different sources. I only saw the junction of the two bows at c, Road to Kilcreggan. A B Cc but the bay was quite calm, The bow D was perfectly full and bright, while B died away at its highest point. I can only imagine that B was formed by light reflected by some bright cloud, but I did not observe any bright enough. The view is nearly north-west. As Ihave never even among our Scottish How Snakes shed the Skin In NATURE, vol. xx. p. 530, Dr. H. F. Hutchinson, amid some interesting facts about snakes, says: ‘‘I have never wit- nessed the process of skin-shedding, nor, I believe, has any observer.” The Doctor then ventures an ingenious, though incorrect, hypothesis of his own. In the American Naturalist for January, 1875, 7.c., vol. ix. No. 1, under the title, ‘‘The Pine Snake of New Jersey,” I gave an article embodying the results of several years’ study of Pitwophis melanoleucus, in which the process of exuviation is described as witnessed by myself. Herewith is an abstract. The few words interpolated for the sake of clearer exposition are put in brackets, Near the close of September, 1873, at 1 P.M., looking into the box, I saw that the female snake had started the skin from her head. It was a little torn at the snout, and I found that the head and a little of the neck were denuded. The denuding process was going on, but very slowly. Doubtless the chief difficulty was in starting the skin, and I felt sorry that I did not see the start. The neck was very slowly becoming divested of the old cuticle, which, at first glance, had a sort of back-creeping aspect. What surprised me was the fact that there was not the least friction in the process ; that is, there was no rubbing against any exterier object. It really did look as if an invisible power was drawing the skin back upon itself. [Looking closely, I caught the secret. There was a systematic alternate swelling of the body at the neck of the skin, thus stretching it, and making a shoulder in front of the neck, each swelling pushing the loosened skin a little backward.] The old skin at this time is very moist and soft, and any swelling of the body stretches and loosens it. So soon as the exuviation has reached the part of the body containing the larger ribs, this doffing of the old suit proceeds more rapidly, and with a singular system, It is done that a galloping horse should be painted as it usually is, than that a swinging pendulum can only be. suggested by drawing it at one or other extreme of its excursion, An artist could no more use Prof. Marey’s diagrams in the way it is assumed he should, than he could represent a rolling wheel if he took no liberties with the apparent position of the spokes; but confined himself by remembering their true places and numbers, which of course are the same as when the wheel is at rest. It is true that a galloping horse might also be represented with all its legs gathered under it, but this is not done, because, as I agree with Prof, Marey, ‘it is the artist’s duty to add elegance of form ;” whilst I dissent from him when he allows himself to be convinced that ‘‘the greater part of the horses [of Phidias] are represented in false attitudes” because the odograph says so. W. G, SIMPSON Roseneath, Edinburgh, November 12 that being the only part of Row Bay visible from my standpoint, but several observers saw the whole group as I have drawn it, The sea was quite glassy, so that the inverted rainbow A must have been formed by the sun’s rays reflected from the water. The wind was just beginning to rise and some scudding showers were passing up from the Firth of Clyde from the south-west, Teastan Row Point. Pier. Row. D | hills seen such a combination of rainbows, I think:the description | may have some interest for some of your readers. The hill to | the right is Knapps Hill, and is 2,000 feet high and three and a half or four miles distant. J. B. HANNAY Woodbourne House, Helensburgh, November 4 just in this way: Exactly at the place where the skin seems to be moving backward, a pair of ribs expands. This action enlarges or puffs out the body, and by stretching loosens the skin at that place. In this movement both ribs in the pair act at the same time, just as the two blades of the scissors open together. Now comes a second movement of this pair of ribs, in which action the two ribs alternate with each other. One of them—say the one on the right side—is pushed forward and made to slip out of and in front of the constriction made by the swelling, when it immediately works backward, that is, against the neck of the double receding skin. Now the left rib makes a like advance, and in a similar manner presses backward, [Thus for every increment of exuviation, or backward movement of the inverting skin, three actions occur with rhythmic method ; the expanding of one pair of ribs, the intumescence of the body action of each rib.] Thus the final action of each pair of ribs is not synchronous, but alternate, and has a notable sameness of movement and result with that of the alternate hitching of each side of the mouth when swallowing a large prey. Indeed, swallowing, with a serpent, is a misnomer, for that laborious hitching is not more a pushing of the prey down the gullet than a drawing of the body over it. The Western man said he always felt better after getting himself round a good beef-steak. With the serpent this is a literal fact; it puts itself outside of its victim. So with that singular costal action it seems to push the skin backward ; but this is an illusion, for it actually pushes itself forward, pulling the skin out as itself advances out of the skin, thus with each movement or advance lengthening the inverted cuticle behind; that is, the old hose everts or evolves itself forward, though it appears as if by some occult force to be pulled on itself backward, . at that spot, and the pushing back of the skin by the alternate — Nov, 20, 1879 : The ribs of a serpent, which extend nearly throughout its whole length, are very much smaller near the neck and near the tail. At both these parts exuviation is much slower than where the larger ribs have play in the process, This rib action pro- duced an automatic movement of the snake on the floor of its box, and across the folds of its companion, which kept as still as if it were dead, This involuntary movement of the reptile’s body was almost imperceptible. All told, it might have been through two feet of linear space. But the exuviated skin was nearly six feet long. This movement seemed much greater than it really was. It was emerging from a tubular case, which was doubling upon itself for a while, the inner or unevolved part shortening as it moved forward with the body ; the outer, or evolved part lengthening as it moved backward from the body. The cast-off skin is presented inside out, so that every scale is now seen on its under or concave side, and this is also true of the eye-scales, To all this there is one exception : the last scale of the tail is a hollow pyramidal or four-sided spike. This, for plain reasons, is not everted. When the shedding has reached this scale a sharp shake cf the extremity is sufficient, and the uneyerted spike is left inside of its everted skin. The entire process of exuviation, allowing five minutes for the part that I did not witness, took thirty-five minutes. Let me add that in poor health a snake has a hard time in getting off its old coat. I could detail an instance wherein the process took three months. The old skin adhered stubbornly to the new one, and was only removed by friction and by tearing off mere bits at a time. SAMUEL LockwooD Freehold, New Jersey, U.S. The ‘‘Hexameter,” Maoa ddc1s dya67.. . THERE is an obstacle in the way of regarding this passage (James i. 17) as a hexameter quoted by the Apostle from some poet, as the late lamented Prof. Clerk Maxwell is reported in Mr. Garnett’s interesting notice of his life, work, and, not least, his character, to have suggested. The final syllable of ddots is short, as the accentuation of pas and similar verbal nouns proves. Arsis, as in ‘*Bédos éxemevxés,” Il. a, 51, can hardly be pleaded. J. J. WALKER University Hall, W.C., November 17 THE SWEDISH NORTH-EAST PASSAGE EXPEDITION | D hupwee ted the wintering of the Vega large quantities of the bones of the whale were found on the beach. These at first were supposed to be the remains of whales _that had been killed by the natives or by American whalers. On examination it was found that they must be sub-fossil. This was confirmed by the natives, who stated that no whale had driven on land in the memory of man. The remains were found to belong to four or five different species, of which Balena mysticetus, or anearly allied type, was the most common. Prof. Nordenskjéld investigated the formation of the strata of frozen earth several hundred feet thick which occur in Siberia as in Polar America. Along the coast of Siberia there is a stratum of water resting on the bottom of the sea which is several degrees below the freezing- point, so that a flask of the comparatively fresh surface water, when sunk into this stratum, begins to freeze. Stuxberg observed that the trawl-net often froze fast to the bottom. This was accounted for by the freezing of the fresh water which the net carried down with it from the surface. Nordenskjéld thinks that the mud carried down by the rivers into the sea as it sinks to the bottom carries with it fresh water adhering to the minute particles, and that this fresh water, like that carried down by the net, freezes at the bottom, forming thus a frozen stratum, which increases year by year until it reaches an enormous thickness. He is of opinion that a portion of the earthy layers of Siberia was formed in this way, although, he adds, he by no means considers this the only way in which such formations arose. Along the whole coast, from the White Sea to Behring’s * Continued from p. 40. NATURE 57 Straits, no glacier was seen, During autumn the Siberian coast is nearly free of ice and snow. There are no moun- tains covered all the year round with snow, although some of them rise to a height of more than 2,000 feet. With one exception there were no rocks along the coast precipitous enough to be suitable breeding-places for sea- fowl, but a large number of these birds were seen during spring flying farther to the north. During the voyage of the Vega from her winter quarters through Behring’s Straits and farther south, Nordenskjold searched for a tribe called Onkilon, said to be allied to the Eskimo, but without success. He found only rein- deer-owning Tchuktches, and supposes that the name Onkilon, given by Wrangel to the old tribe inhabiting the coast and driven out by the Tchuktches, is probably related to the name Ankali, given by the reindeer-owning Tchuktches to the coast Tchuktches. Nordenskjéld states that English authors who refer Eskimo and Tchuktches to the same origin are mistaken. It was found that the inhabitants on the American side are pure Eskimo, with whom it was possible to carry on barter by means of the list of Eskimo words published in “Arctic Geography and Ethnology,” London, 1875 ; but that the language spoken by the Tchuktches, of which Lieut. Nordquist collected about 1,000 words, is quite different, and probably allied to that of the Iranian races. On the other hand there is a complete correspondence between the household furniture of the Tchuktches and the Eskimo. It may be safely affirmed, he says, that these two neighbouring races have a greater number of identical articles in their tents than of common words in their languages. The hills at Cape York on the American side were found to consist of crystalline schists without organic remains. Among the natives, who were Eskimo, there was a Tchuktch woman who said that Tchuktch tribes were settled on the American side between Point Barrow and Cape Prince of Wales. The Eskimo used, along with breechloaders, revolvers, and axes obtained from the Americans, bows and arrows, bone boat-hooks, and various stone implements. They were friendly and agreeable, and less given to brandy than the Tchuktches. There did not appear to be any chief among them. Com- plete equality prevailed, and the standing of the women did not appear to be inferior to that of the other sex. Among the stone implements were found arrow-heads and other articles of a species of nephrite so closely re- sembling the well-known nephrite from High Asia, that these implements were supposed to have actually come from that region. A warm current, as in Europe, was found to flow along the north-western coast, and to create there a far milder climate than that which prevails on the Asiatic side. The limit of trees therefore lies a good way to the north of Behring’s Straits, while the whole of the Tchuktch Penin- sula appe rs to be devoid of trees. This is the case also with the land along the coast at Port Clarence, but a short distance inland there were bushes two feet high, Vegetation was generally luxuriant, and a great number of species were identical with, or nearly allied to, those of the Scandinavian north, among others the Lznnea. Notwithstanding the luxuriance of the vegetation, the land invertebrates were much poorer in species than in the north of Norway. Thus only from ten to twenty kinds of beetles could be found, principally Havpali and Staphy- lini, and of land and fresh-water mollusca only seven or eight species. The avifauna was also rather scanty, and the dredgings in the harbour at Port Clarence, on account of the unfavourable nature of the bottom, yielded only a small number of animal and vegetable species. 7 The Vega, crossing to the Asiatic side, anchored in Konyam Bay on July 28. On the north shore of this Bay Dr. Kjellman added seventy species of flowering plants to the collection he had previously made. Here, too, were 58 NAT ORE [WVov. 20, 1879 found the first land mollusca on the Tchuktch Peninsula. Nordenskjéld considers it probable that on the southern part of this peninsula there was in former times a little inland ice. On July 31 the Vega was anchored at St. Lawrence Island. Drift ice was seen for the last time. The quantity of ice carried by the Polar current through Behring’s Straits is very inconsiderable, and it has evidently been for the most part formed along the coast. Not a single iceberg was visible, the whole of the ice seen being level and rotten “year's ice.’’ St. Lawrence Island is inhabited by Eskimo, who having frequent inter- course with the Tchuktches, have adopted some of their words. The prevailing rock is granite, weathering readily, and thus giving origin to a very fruitful soil. Vegetation was exceedingly luxuriant, and rich collections of land and marine animals, lichens, and algze were made. The Vega next anchored off Behring Island on August 14. This island belongs to Russia, but the American Alaska Company has acquired the right of hunting, and maintains a station where skins, principally those of the Otaria ursina, are purchased. Between 50,000 and 100,000 of these animals are killed yearly on this and the neighbouring Copper Island. They yield the brown “ sealskin ” so much in fashion in recent years. Behring’s Island is supposed to have been visited first by Behring, who, after being shipwrecked, died there in 1741, survived, however, by many of his companions, among others, by the talented naturalist Steller, who described the natural history of the island in a masterpiece that has seldom been surpassed. Since Steller’s time great changes have taken place. The Canis dagofus then occurred in in- credible numbers. Now they are so uncommon that not one was seen, and those that remain are not dark blue, but white, the skins being of little value. On the neigh- bouring Copper Island dark blue foxes are still found in considerable abundance. In 1741-42 Stellar and his com- panions killed here about 700 sea-otters. This animal, famous for its precious fur, is now quite extinct on Behring’s Island. Ofthe sea-lion (Ofaria stelleri), formerly abundant, only single specimens are to be found along with the sea-bear (O¢aria ursina) on the rocky shores of the island, and the great sea-cow, the most remarkable of all the mammals formerly belonging to Behring’s Island, is now completely extinct. Steller’s sea-cow (Rhytina stelleri) was of a brownish colour, covered with hair which grew on a hide resembling the bark on an old oak. Its length, according to Steller, was sometimes as much as thirty-five feet and its weight nearly 50,o00lb. The female yielded abundance of milk, which, along with the flesh, resembled, and were even, according to Stellar, superior to those of the cow. The sea-cow fed on the abundant alge along the coast in great herds. According to Midden lorf, the last sea-cow was killed in 1768. Nor- denskjéld, however, founda “‘creole” of mixed Russian and Aleutian blood, whose father had come to the island in 1777, and remembered the killing of sea-cows while they fed on seaweed at low water for the first two or three years (1779 or 1780) after his arrival. Nordenskjéld also found two men who had seen, about twenty-five years ago, a large animal corresponding to Steller’s sea- cow. He also obtained two complete skulls of the animal and a quantity of bones sufficient to fill twenty-one large boxes and barrels. The sea-bear (Ofaria ursina) is the only large animal that exists on the island in about as large numbers as in Steller’s time. It is “preserved”’ by the Alaska Company, only a limited number being killed yearly. The vegetation on Behring’s Island was found to be exceedingly luxuriant, and the sea in its neighbourhood one of the richest in algze in the world. Forests of alge, sixty to a hundred feet high, grew in favourable situa- tions, rendering dredging exceedingly difficult. Some of the algze are used by the natives as food. The small streams swarmed with a number of different kinds of fish, among them a species of Coregonus, a little Salmo fario, a middle-sized salmon with nearly white flesh and a purple skin, and another of the same length, but very thick, and with a hump“on its back. Other species of salmon with deep red flesh are found in the larger rivers. Leaving Behring’s Island on August 19, the Vega reached Yokohama on September 2 in good order and with every man on board in excellent health. There had not been a trace of scurvy during the whole voyage. GALILEO AND THE APPLICATION OF MATHEMATICS TO PHYSICS* II. ifs dealing with the falling body I had toask you to think what is the speed at any moment of a body which is changing its speed every moment, every half moment, every hundredth part of a moment or what we call con- tinuously. It is easy to see that it has some speed at every point, and that the speed at every point is quite definite. I indicated a way in which we could fix this approximately, by taking the average speed over short intervals. A similar question is raised in considering the path of the projectile. Its direction changes from point to point. The bullet is shot towards the east, and, for the sake of picturing its path, I imagine the lines vertically upward to be called northwards, as on a vertical map. At first the particle starts off, let me say,in a direction N.N.E. When it has reached the top of its path it is going horizontally—due east—when it has got back to the level the Northing has been turned into Southing, and it is going S.S.E. In its upward motion it changes con- tinuously from N.N.E. to E. At a certain position it is half a point more to the east and less to the north; further on, a point more; further on again, the Northing has disappeared. The path has curved away; it is curving away at every point of it. A particle moving at a uniform rate in a circle changes its direction; but at every point the amount of curvature or immediate bend- ing away from the direction in which the particle moves at any moment is the same. Ina small circle the curve bends away faster than in a larger one from the line which represents the direction of motion at any point, but in each separate circle the measure of bending must at every point be the same. How will it be in a different kind of curve, such as an ellipse, or the path of a pro- . jectile,a parabola? As the speed of falling changes from moment to moment continuously, the curvature changes from moment to moment. - In solving the problems of falling bodies and of pro- jectiles, Galileo was essentially applying the principles of the Differential or Fluxional or Indivisible Calculus. If pure mathematics had attracted him as strongly as its application to physics, he wou'd have thought these problems out, and would have founded the Fluxional Calculus, which is the glory of Newton and of Leibnitz. No doubt the world saw more in his great astronomical discoveries ; in the telescope, which brought the moon thirty times nearer, and showed its mountains and the jagged edges of its gibbous side; in the. discovery that Venus waxes and wanes with phases like the moon ; in the four satellites of Jupiter, the famous Medicean stars, which showed the most restless activity of revolu- tion round their central orb—an activity unprecedented in celestial bodies and discomposing to the Peripatetics, whose stately order of the heavens could not tolerate stars which behaved like sky rockets—of the curious double satellite of Saturn, which sometimes was even more bewildering, and went out altogether. It was the Ring, and Galileo gave what we now recognize as a very fair picture of it. No wonder that the man who first made the r An Introductory Lecture, by William Jack, M.A., LL.D., F.R.S.E., Professor of Mathematics in the University of Glasgow, formerly Fellow of St. Peter’s College, Cambridge. Continued from p. 43. Nov. 20, 1879] telescope a practical instrument could not lay it aside till he had exhausted what it had to tell him, or that his whole thoughts were turned from the mathematical and ap- parently abstract entities which we have been describing to discuss the system of the universe in the new light he had brought to bear on it. Yet the choice he made has proved to be wrong. It was through the door of mathe- matics—not through the tube of the telescope—that the discoveries of the true system of the universe were destined to pass. Galileo’s facts made it practically certain that the Copernican theory was right, and-that the sun was the centre of the orbit of each of the planets. Kepler en- larged these statements, establishing, by a patient industry that was never surpassed, that the orbits are ellipses nearly circles, with the sun in one focus—that the line drawn from sun to planet sweeps over equal areas in equal times—that the square of the time taken to describe a planet’s orbit, divided by the cube of its mean distance from the sun, is a fraction which is the same for every planet of the system. Till Newton appeared to interpret them, these results were only statistical facts ; and Newton himself could throw no light on them till he had invented the Fluxional Calculus and discovered the properties of an abstract fluent quantity, such as a speed or a curvature, which is continuously changing. And yet how near Galileo came to the secret! We have seen that he was in fact compelled to deal with the fundamental problems of the Fluxional Calculus in dis- cussing falling bodies and projectiles. It was his famous scholar Cavalleri whose Calculus of Indivisibles fore- shadowed the Fluxional Calculus of Newton. It is diffi- cult to say how much of Cavalleri’s views were developed out of the note-books of his master’s lectures and out of his own consideration of the problems that master had triumphantly solved. Like many of Galileo’s pupils, he had published works of his own, in which it was doubtless difficult to separate what was original from what was borrowed. From about 1592 till about 1638—forty-six years— Galileo had published scarcely anything except on the planetary system. The inclined planes, the falling bodies, the pendulums, the cycloids, were so many pro- blems worked out in his youth—during the early years of his professoriates at Pisa and Padua—scattered in students’ note-books, and germinating in students’ minds through- out the world. It was so with his theory of projectiles; and Cavalleri, who was one of his old students and his successor at the University of Padua, published the theory of projectiles without referring it to its real author. Challenged by Galileo, he allowed his obligations frankly, and their friendship was not interrupted. Cavalleri pub- lished his theory of indivisibles in Galileo’s old age (1635), calling it “ Geometria indivisibilibus continuorum nova quadam ratione promota,’’ after he had apologised for his former awkward error. The shape of the new theory was Cavalleri’s own—the impulse came almost certainly from the discoverer of the true theory of falling bodies and of projectiles. We owe the theory of indivisibles to Cavalleri, and not to Galileo, partly, no doubt, because for the greater por- tion of his manhood his astronomical discoveries, and the discussions they brought with them, filled Galileo’s mind almost exclusively; partly because for the last five-and- twenty years of his life most of his thought had to be spent on his relations with the Church, to which he was sincerely attached. In 1616 he was warned that the Copernican hypothesis was to be considered as false. Religious persecutions were not then unknown in Pro- testant countries, and people were tortured for witchcraft as well as heresy. J3ut it was reserved to the Catholic Church in Italy to erect the Aristotelian doctrines and the Ptolemaic system into an article of faith. A century after Luther shook the world at Wittenberg, had brought dreadful days for mathematicians, physicists, and re- ormers, in Italy. When Galileo was a youth of twenty- NATURE 59 three, two years before he was called to be professor at Pisa, Barozzi, who had occupied himself at Venice with the discussion of the asymptotes of curves, was believed to be guilty of dealing in sorcery and witchcraft, of cast- ing lots, and of causing the drought which reigned in the Island of Cyprus. He was condemned by the Inquisi- tion in 1587, partly because he had a great number of curious books and a wonderful collection of astronomical and mathematical instruments. Porta, the famous author of the “ Magia Naturalis »—the reputed discoverer of the camera obscura,—was summoned to Rome to give an account of his opinions. Giordano Bruno was burned at Venice in 1600, hardly less for his daring speculations in religion than because he had attacked Aristotle and adopted the system of Copernicus. The aged Arch- bishop of Spalatro, de Dominis, to whom Newton at- tributes the successful explanation of the colours of the rainbow, died in 1624 in the prisons of the Inquisition, and all that death had left to the mercies of his persecu- tors was publicly committed to the flames. The skies of Italy were black with the smoke of these burnings, the air was heavy with suspicion and terror. The Inquisition tried men for heresies which had been denounced by un- known enemies, and the processes of moral and intellectual torture to which it subjected those who were brought before its tribunals were only more oppressive because the secret of their details was closely kept. Galileo wrote a letter to his friend and pupil the Jesuit Castelli, in 1614, copies of which were privately circulated, but which was not printed till twenty years later. In that noble writing he lays down with equal firmness and clearness the broad lines with separate scientific and religious thought, and shows himself deeply penetrated with religious as with scientific faith. A Jesuit father denounced it, another preached against him as a witness for the Copernican system. Though the great works he had hitherto published, that on the Solar Spots and the “ Nuncius Sidereus” had neither of them committed their author to the Copernican theory of the universe, the Church resolved to anticipate and to forbid the support by the most illustrious of living astronomers of doctrines, which, whatever else might be said of them, were clearly fatal to the authority of the Peripatetics. Galileo went to Rome (in 1616) to struggle for as much liberty as could be saved, but he was deeply disap- pointed with the result. He retracted nothing, because he had neither been tried nor convicted, but the officers of the Inquisition waited on him, and left him an official warning that it was not permitted to teach that the sun was the fixed centre of our system, and that the earth revolved around it. Silence was imposed on him; and it was only after the new Pope was appointed, who, as a Cardinal, had opposed the promulgation of this warning, that he ventured again to think of publishing his views. The book in which they appeared in 1632 was a three-cornered dialogue between a Ptolemaist and a Copernican, with a third person acting as a kind of half intelligent chorus. The arguments of the Ptolemaist were, of course, the weaker, as in Galileo’s hands it was impossible that it should be otherwise. To secure the zmfrimatur of the censorship, he prefixed this statement to the book—“ Within the last few years a salutary edict was promulgated at Rome, in which, in view of dangerous scandals, silence was en- joined on the supporters of the Pythagorean doctrine of the movement of the earth. Some have been rash enough to say that this dogma was not arrived at after a judicious examination, but was promulgated in passion and in ignorance, and it has been asserted that people utterly without practice in astronomical observations ought not to attempt, by a premature prohibition, to clip the wings of speculation. Hearing these complaints my heart burned within me, and I could not keep silence. Having been fully informed of this wise decision, I resolved to 60 NATURE [Vov. 20, 1879 appear publicly before all the world, and to testify to the truth. I was at Rome at the time. I was listened to and praised by the most eminent prelates, and was at once acquainted with this decree. My purpose in this book is to show foreign nations that in Italy, and especially in Rome, as much is really known about these matters as anywhere else. I have gathered together my speculations on the Copernican system to show that all these things were known before the condemnation, and that we owe to Italy not merely doctrines for the salvation of their souls, but ingenious discoveries to delight the minds of men.” The elaborate and somewhat overstrained courtesy of this preface availed as little to save its author from the terrors of the Inquisition as the imprimatur of the Papal censor- ship which he had procured beforehand. The Pope looked on the soz-disante hypothetical presentation of Copernicanism as a mere pretence. I need not repeat the well-known story of the great man’s sufferings. After long months of mental torture, he was dragged before the sacred tribunal, and compelled to confess that he had been criminally negligent in stating too cogently the argu- ments for the Copernican system in the eagerness of intellectual debate, and in not sufficiently guarding the hasty reader against the force of arguments for what the Church had pronounced to be dangerous heresy. At the age of seventy the greatest discoverer—the most dis- tinguished man in Europe—was threatened with torture to extract from him, if possible, the confession that he had had a malicious intention of unsettling men’s faith in divine truth. It had been privately decided by the Pope that if the threat of torture failed, the Inquisition was not to proceed to the last extremity. Galileo knew nothing of this, but the threat did fail. For his rashness he was sent to the prisons of the Inquisition. He was released in a few days, but he was ordered to confine himself within four walls and his successive places of seclusion were marked out for him. His visitors were noted, and he was warned that an imprudent word might bring him back to the dungeons from which he was only respited on his good behaviour. Private orders were given to the censor- ship throughout Italy that he was not to be permitted to publish anything, not even to re-issue the treatises which first made him illustrious. It was a living death to which his judges had consigned him, and he was reduced to permit his friends to publish surreptitiously across the Alps the book which summed up the long work of his life in Mathematics, in Mechanics, in Hydrostatics, in Physics, so far as Physics were then possible. His greatest work, the “ Discorsi e Dimostrazioni Matematiche,” “ on two new sciences,” appeared in France, and, to save him from the risk of torture, the miserable pretence had to be put forward even there, that the manuscript had been taken away by one of his friends. In 1637, in his seventy-third year he lost his eyesight ; in 1641 he died. The eight years during which the broken-hearted old man, from whose outward eyes the light of that universe, which he had done more than all his predecessors to reveal to men, was fast fading, were the most memorable in the history of modern science. Much of the work he published in them had previously been scattered over Europe by his pupils, but none of them all had his mighty sweep of thought, his noble style, his all-illuminating in- sight. Had his enemies succeeded in silencing him, had he been handed over to the rack at seventy, or prevented, as they meant he should be, from speaking once more urbi et orbi,for fear his words might shatter the system of Ptolemy or put an end to that worship of a traditional philosophy which he had conquered, and which, was struggling to strangle him in its death throes, the world might have waited a century longer for Torricelli and Pascal, for Newton and Laplace. In these last years he is greater and maturer than ever. Banished from the skies by the jealousy of philosophers and priests, he comes back to earthand lays deep and sure those foundations of mechanics without which it was impossible to carry further the science of the heavens. His watchword was that phenomena must first be measured before the attempt to explain or to co-ordinate them, Physics and Astronomy can rest only on mathematics, and the secrets of that hand which laid the foundations of the world in measure are only to be learned by patient and exhaustive obser- vation, and by thought built upon and not preceding it. Let me give you one last illustration of his method in his invention of a heat measurer, Every one seems to know what is heat and what is cold. They are among the most familiar of our sensations. But my sensations may differ from yours. I may pronounce a body hot which you may call cold; and before Galileo’s time there was no apparent way of settling the dispute except by declaring it a matter of taste, and agreeing to differ, He invented a measuring instrument—the progenitor of our thermo- meters. Imagine a flask with a bulb blown out at the end of it, and a long tube of uniform bore for a neck, such as we see in a thermometer. Let the bulb be partly filled with coloured water. Put the finger at the end to keep the water in; turn the tube upside down so that the bulb is at the top and the tube vertical. Plunge the end of the tube in a vessel of water, and then remove the finger. All the coloured water will not flow down into the vessel. If the bulb is surrounded by something warmer than itself, the level will fall till it nearly reaches the water in the basin; if it is surrounded by something colder, the level will rise. Galileo had found a phenomenon accom- panying an increase or diminution of heat as unvaryingly as a shadow follows its substance. Like the shadow, this new phenomenon is measureable, and though it was too soon to say that the rise or fall in the tube was in any exact proportion to the diminution or increase of the sur- rounding heat, it was easy to establish the fact that a rise always meant a diminution and a fall an increase. It was not given to Galileo to discover those properties of air and gases which turn the thermoscope into the air ther- mometer, the most sensitive and accurate of heat mea- surers. Had he known them, he was far enough in the way which his pupil Torricelli followed to have discovered the barometer also, and to have measured the weight of a column of that great atmospheric ocean at the bottom of which man lives as the Bathybius is supposed to live at the bottom of the watery deeps. Even there his sagacity had divined the necessity of applying measurement to that horror of a vacuum which before his time had only been a philosopher’s name for our ignorance of a cause. I have certainly failed in my object to-day if I have not conveyed to you two truths which lie at the basis of modern science. It is the fst, perhaps, with which I have most to do as a teacher, and you as students of - pure mathematics, The sciences of measurement, the methods of measurement—sciences and methods which are abstract in form, but which are constantly applied to concrete things,—are the true keys to the sciences of ex- periment. It was in the apparently intricate abstractions of continuous change of velocity and of curvature, in the apparently curious considerations of the science of in- divisibles, the beginnings of which we owe to Galileo, that Newton found that secret of the universe which transformed the life-long labours of Kepler, the great statist of astronomy, into the law of gravitation, The fascinations of astronomy, and the fatal chains which hung about his later life, like those which Samson had to bear when he made mirth for the Philistines, com- bined to deprive Galileo of the honours which awaited Newton. But that lesson need not be lost to us. My second lesson is that measurement—measurement even in its simplest form, mathematics, or, if you choose, arith- metic,—lies at the root of all our knowledge of nature. If I have one word more to say about the great Florentine to my students, it will not be of the pity of it all, of the terror and the tragedy in which his life closed]; the time. . altogether from the present discussion. Nov. 20, 1879] NATURE 61 it will be to ask them to remember that he proved, what the greatest men have always proved, that it is possible to conciliate the most magnificent knowledge of mathe- matics or of any abstract science with all the culture of Galileo was an admirable writer ; he was a great musician ; he studied Ariosto and Dante with in- tense love; he amused himself with comedy; he distinguished himself in painting. It is the commonplace of the history of great men—a commonplace better illustrated perhaps by the great names of Italy than by those of any other country—that greatness is scarcely compatible with a narrow concentration of intellect, even to one great family of subjects. Many of her great mathematicians were sculptors, painters, poets, masters of expression. But if the story of Galileo’s life should guard you from falling into the Scylla of the eager student who thinks that he must dwarf his nature if he hopes to attain to eminence in a special subject—an error to which the pressure of our times renders him more and more liable—it is equally certain to save him from the Charybdis of the d/ettante who forgets to choose that one of the objects attainable within the little com- pass of a man’s life which is most suited to his faculties, and in attaining which he is most likely to succeed. Galileo repressed none of his great powers, and denied himself none of the intellectual delights which few men of his day were so able to enjoy. But the obstinacy with which he followed after mathematical and physical truth, from the day when he first listened, asa truant medical student, at the key-hole of a lecture-room to the professor of mathematics teaching the Grand Duke's pages, to that, nearly sixty years after, when the worn-out shell which had suffered so much was laid in that last darkness of the grave, warns us that greatness is never, and, I may add, success is seldom, won without an unfaltering per- severance in the pursuit of the main object of life. The last wish of the venerable old man, whose heart suffered as much from the cruelty which had cut him off, in a sense, froin the outward communion of the faithful, as his intellect did when he was compelled, on his knees, to deny what he had proved to be the true system of the universe, was refused him. The Church below refused him burial in the Santa Croce at Florence, but it could not prevent the eyes that old age and suffering had blinded to the delights of his Italian earth from opening on the splendours of an immortality which no man has better earned. WHO WAS PRINCE ALUMAYU? oom of our contemporaries, referring to the recent death of King Theodore’s son, Prince Alumaydi, speak of him as if he were an African of the ordinary Negrotype. This is perhaps on the whole a fair gauge of the popular ideas still prevalent regarding the natives of the Dark Continent. Yet, though the standard is not of a high order, it must be confessed that in the present -case some little confusion might well be pardoned, con- sidering the many difficulties attaching to the subject of Abyssinian ethnology. Indeed it would be no easy matter even for a sound ethnologist to answer the question off-hand, who was Prince Alumayfi? To do so accurately implies a clear knowledge of a very complicated problem, to the elucidation of which a few lines may be welcomed by the readers of NATURE, in connection with an event of some political importance and presenting a ve striking parallel in more than one respect to the death of the late Prince Louis Napoleon in Zululand. It may at once be stated that, whatever else he may have been, the young “ Ethiopian,” as he has been called, was in no sense an African Negro, and that matters will be much simplified if the “ Negro question”’ be dismissed There no doubt is some true Negro blood in the lowlands, especially towards the south-west frontier bordering on Senaar ; but in the Abyssinian highlands proper the Negro element seems never at any time to have been present, and at any rate King Theodore of Amhara was no more of Negro stock than are the Rajputs of Northern India. The types have nothing in common except the outward element of colour, though even here great differences prevail, and many of the Abyssinians, especially the women, are very fair. In all other respects—physique, language, mental qualities—the divergence is fundamental. This statement applies not only to the ruling peoples of Tigré, Amhara, and Shoa—the “ Habesh’’ proper— who are intruders, but also to the true aborigines whether settled or nomad, and who may, for convenience, be here collectively grouped as Agaii, the "Ayad of Cosmas (about 520 A.D.). The Habesh belong to the Himyaritic branch of the great Semitic family, and must have found their way into the country from the south-western parts of Arabia many hundred years before the Christian era. The Agaii are a section of the Hamitic family inter- mediate between the Gallas and Somali of the south, and the Bisharas or Bejas and Egyptians further north. But Semite and Hamite, both originally no doubt one, are themselves mere varieties of the great “ Caucasian” type, of which the Aryans are a collateral branch. It follows therefore that Abyssinia is peopled exclusively by races fundamentally distinct from the African Negro, and re- motely allied to the fair European stock. Hence Prince | Alumayi’s affinities are, not with the black inhabitants of the Dark Continent, but with the light, swarthy, and dark peoples of Europe, South-Western Asia, and Northern India. It will now be more easy to determine his position in the Abyssinian family itself. Although in this area the fundamental elements, as shown, are two only, Hamite and Semite, the intermingling of these elements, con- tinued during a period of probably not less than four thousand years, and taking place under ever-varying con- ditions, has resulted in no little confusion, and the per- plexity has in this case been further intensified by the elements of speech and religion. Thus, the Amharic people, for instance, are usually classed as “ Habesh”’ proper, because of their language ; for Amharna, notwith- standing many serious differences, is no doubt funda- mentally related to the Tigrdi, the purest representative of the old Ghéz (Himyaritic), extinct since the fourteenth century. But it might not be difficult to show that the bulk of the Amharic! nation fare ethnically of Agati stock, though now speaking a modified Ghéz dialect imposed upon them by the conquering Semites from the north. At the same time the dominant race in Amhara is no doubt still more akin to the Semites than to the subject race. Hence the late Prince Alumayd, belonging to the royal blood of Amhara, must, on the whole, be regarded as of Habesh (Himyaritic) stock as well as speech. : Religion has been mentioned as a source of confusion, and an obvious case in point are the mysterious Falashas, who, because professing the Jewish faith, are popularly sup- posed to be of Hebrewnationality. Fortunately, Mr. Edward Hine has not yet got hold of them, and they have conse- quently not yet been identified with any of the lost tribes. Nevertheless, their position is sufficiently curious and interesting, though it may now be stated with some con- fidence that they are neither Jews, Israelites, nor Semites. In speech and physique they are a distinct branch of the Agaii (Hamitic) family, and can no more be converted into descendants of Abraham by the practice of maimed Abrahamitic rites than the adoption of Isl4m can trans- form the Chinese Panthays into Koreish Bedouins. i The subjoined scheme of the various races now in possession of the Habesh highlands may help to clear up t The very word Amhara has been identified with the Hamra, the chief Agaii nation in the Takazzé valley and province of Lasta, Tigré. 62 iVATURE [Mov. 20, 1879 jhe obscurity attaching to the subject of Abyssinian ethno- ogy -—_— Bee Table of Abyssinian Races Hamites. | Mixed. | _ , Semites. Aghagha, prov. Aghau- (Hamites & Semites.) Tigré, N. and E. of méder, | Bogos, extreme N.E, River Takazzé. | Hamra, prov. Lasta, S. |Gongas,aboutGojam. | |; Samhar, on coast near Tigré. | Guragwe, extreme S13 Massowah. Falasha, mainly inSem-| Kunama, N.W. to-| 2 | Shoho, S.W, of Mas- | yen. | wards ‘Taka. *% |__-sowah, 8 | Kwara, W. and N, of Shoa, S.E. corner. ‘5, Menza, N. of Hama- aw) Aghauméder, |Amhara, between the |"— | __ sen. zs Khamant, chiefly in| ‘Takazzé and| > | Habab, < | Dembea. | bai. E | Bediuh, | N. & N.E. < | Fighen,S.W. from Lake | King Theodore. i | Takwé, frontiers Tsana. } Marea, J Tigré. Zalan, chiefly in N.' Prince Alumaya. | Barea, Amhara. | Witos, about Lake ‘Tsana (?). | Of the languages three only are of any literary or political interest; G/éz, still surviving as the language of the liturgy and Sacred writings, though scarcely under- stood even by the clergy; Zizgrdz, its purest modern representative, current throughout the kingdom of Tigré and generally north and east of the Takazzé; Amharna, spoken with considerable dialectic variety in Amhara and Shoa, All are written in a peculiar syllabic character showing certain affinities to the Himyaritic rock inscrip- tions of Marah and other parts of South Arabia. Am- haric employs seven additional letters for sounds not occurring in Ghéz or Tigrai, making with the vocal modifications a total of 249 distinct symbols. This was the language of Prince Alumayt. A. H. KEANE COLOUR-VISITON AND COLOUR-BLINDNESS A® the notices of these subjects which have recently appeared in NATURE appear to me to do scant justice to the received theory, will you permit me to call attention toa portion of the evidence on which this theory rests ? The Philosophical Transactions for 1860 contain a paper by Prof. Clerk Maxwell, in which actual measure- ments are given of the quantitative relations between various colours, some of the observations having been taken by persons of normal vision, and others by a colour- ‘blind person. The instrument of observation consisted of a species of spectroscope with three parallel slits, the widths of these slits, and also the distances between them being variable at pleasure. By this means three over- lapping spectra are obtained, and any three spectral colours can be mixed in any proportions. The observa- - tions showed that any four colours as presented to the eye in a given spectrum are connected with each other by a definite colour-equation, such as— 34 +48 =2C+4+ 6D, which means that if the four colours A, B, C, D, as they exist in the given spectrum, are increased in intensity threefold, fourfold, twofold, and sixfold respectively, and then mixed two and two, the mixture 34 + 482 will present exactly the same appearance as the mixture 2C+6D. This is only another way of saying that colour as seen by normal vision contains three inde- pendent variables, or requires three numbers for its specification. Any three colours of the spectrum will serve as the three specifying elements; for example, if we employ 4, £, and C to specify D, the specification will be— D=34A+3B-3C6, Here we have one coefficient (that of C) with the negative sign. ‘The three primary colours are defined to be those which will always have positive coefficients when they are employed as the specifying elements. In plainer words, all other colours can be exactly imitated by mixtures of the primaries, whereas, in the above example, the colour D cannot be imitated by a mixture of A, L, and C. The points of the spectrum at which the three primary colours are found, will not necessarily be the points which most strongly excite the three elementary colour-sensa- tions respectively. On the contrary, as a matter of fact, the two extreme sensations (called by Maxwell the vedand the 4/ue) are very feebly excited at the parts of the spectrum where they are purest, namely, at the extreme ends of the spectrum ; and the middle sensation, which is largely adulterated with the other two even at the point where it is purest (namely, at a point in the olive green, which is, accordingly, one of the three primaries), has not a maximum of intensity at this point, but increases in intensity as the brightest part of the spectrum is approached, and attains its maximum (for the solar spectrum obtained with a flint glass prism), somewhere between the fixed lines and D. The determination of the position of the middle primary in the spectrum, was _ made with considerable precision in the paper referred to; but the faintness of the two extremities of the spec- trum rendered wide slits necessary in examining these regions, and thus introduced inaccuracy in determining the positions of the two extreme primaries, which in later publications Prof. Maxwell places at the very extremities of the spectrum. The latter part of the paper of 1860 consists of a post- script containing observations made by a colour-blind person. The colour-equations found by direct observa- tion are given, and are shown to agree with the suppo- sition that the observer's vision was dichroic, the sensation corresponding to the extreme red being absent. The curves of intensity for each of the two elements in the vision of the dichroic observer are given, side by side with the three curves of intensity for the vision of a trichroic observer, all these being directly calculated from the observations, and the two dichroic curves appear to be practically identical with two of the three trichroic curves. Dr. Pole’s objection to the received theory appears to me to have no force except in so far as it is an objection toaname. The colour which the colour-blind see in the less refrangible half of the spectrum appears to be due to the excitement of the middle one of the three elemen- tary sensations of trichroic vision. Persons of normal vision never get this sensation without large adulteration, and hence ordinary language contains no appropriate name for it. Prof. Hering’s theory of colours, as expounded by Dr. Pole (NATURE, vol. xx. pp. 479, 480) seems inconsistent with the fact (established by the observations of Prof. Maxwell, Lord Rayleigh, and other competent observers) that there is one definite colour-equation between any Jour colours, For Prof. Hering’s theory assumes four elements of colour-sensation, A, G, B, Y, such that R+G=0,B+YV=o, It would follow that, with the help of the minus sign, al? colours could be specified in terms of 2 and B, and hence by writing down the specifications of any three colours, and employing the ordinary processes of elimination, a colour- equation could be obtained between the three colours. Prof. Hering’s theory then leads to the result that there is a definite colour-equation between any ¢Aree colours ; in other words, that when any three colours are given it is possible to imitate one by a mixture of the other two. This result is so utterly opposed to fact, that a theory which leads to it cannot stand for a moment. J. D. EVERETT SOME OBSERVATIONS ON FLEUSS’S NEW PROCESS OF DIVING AND REMAINING UNDER WATER I HAVE recently had two opportunities of seeing a new process of diving and of remaining fora long time under water, called, after its inventor, Fleuss’s process. The peculiarity of it is that the diver takes down with him such a good and wholesome supply of air-food, that he is — Nov. 20, 1879] quite independent of any supply from above, so that there is no pumping required, and, indeed, no help whatever, except a signal-man and cord. ; The experiment is being shown daily at the Royal Polytechnic Institution, and I am indebted to the managers for giving me the earliest notice of it, and for offering me every facility for observation. I am equally indebted to Mr. Fleuss for his readiness to carry out my wishes, and I am sure the readers of NATURE will be interested with the facts I have now to offer them. Mr. Fleuss, the inventor of the apparatus, 1s a young Englishman, twenty-eight years of age, who has served, I believe, as an officer inthe P. and O. Company's service. He has constructed the apparatus himself in a skilful but not very ornamental fashion, and he is his own diver. He went down in the apparatus, like a brave man, first himself, and he only, up to the present, has been down in it. He is a short slight man, of fair complexion, and very pleasing expression. He has a quiet and resolute enthusiasm which is quite refreshing. The dress in which he descends under water is like an ordinary diver’s dress. A helmet, a breast-plate, and the common water-tight armings and leggings. He bears on his shoulders a weight of 96 lbs., and his boots are weighted to 20 lbs. At twelve feet depth he moves comfortably in the water under this pressure. From the helmet there proceeds a light cord for signalling to the signaller above. Before the helmet is fixed and the mask closed, it is seen that he wears, firmly tied over his mouth and nose, an ori-nasal mouth-piece, from which a breathing-tube of an inch bore proceeds downwards. This mouth-piece is, in appearance, just like the chloroform mouth-piece invented by the late Dr. Sibson, and afterwards added by Dr. Snow to his chloroform inhaler. For many years I used invariably the same kind of mouth-piece for administering volatile anesthetics, but Fleuss’s fits much closer, and is fixed more firmly. When he is on the floor of the tank, Fleuss moves about as he pleases, apparently without any impediment whatever. He can pick up coins, he can sit down, and he can even lie down and get up again, a feat, I believe, entirely novel in diving. He breathes, he assures me, just as easily as when he is in the air and quite as freely, and from what I observed when he came out of the water from a long immersion, I have no doubt asto the correctness of his statement. He has some means of disposing of the products of respiration as well as of getting a continuous supply of air for respiration, since there is no escape of expired air from him into the water. On the first occasion on which I witnessed the experi- ment Mr. Fleuss remained in the water twenty minutes. He came out quite free of any oppression. His pulse was steady, his breathing free, and his complexion natural. This was considered a short experiment, and on Saturday last, November 15, therefore, I asked to see it prolonged to an hour and to be allowed to follow it through all its stages. The request was immediately granted. The diving-dress was adjusted on Saturday, at 6.33 P.M., and then Mr, Fleuss began to breathe from the ap- paratus. At this time his temperature was quite natural and his pulse was beating steadily at 68 per minute; the pulse was of good strength and tone. The temperature of the air was 51° F.; of the water, at the upper surface, 49° F. Fleuss said it was colder lower down, but the difference was not determined. He descended at 6.40 and remained under the water, at a depth of twelve feet, precisely one hour, namely, until 7.40 P.M. He walked about the greater part of the time, picked up pennie:, and once or twice partly reclined on the floor of thetank. Atthe end of the hour he gave the signal to come up, the cold of the water having caused great numbness in his hands; he walked up the steps, carry- ing the heavy weights (116 lbs.) briskly, and was relieved, NATURE 63 after a short delay, first of his helmet and then of his mouth-piece. At this point I found his pulse to be beating at 120 per minute and somewhat feeble, but the face was clear of any sign of asphyxia, though it was a little pale. His breathing was quite free. He attri-: buted the quickness of the pulse to the labour of carrying the weights up the ladder, and no doubt correctly. Seven minutes later, the dress having been removed and warm clothing put on, I found the pulse to be ninety per minute, and the temperature of the body, taken from the mouth, to be 94° F., rather more than 4° below the natural stan- dard. At twenty minutes later, that is to say, at twenty-seven minutes after release from the water, the pulse was eighty per minute, while the temperature had risen to 96° F. At this stage I took an observation of the pulse with the sphygmophone. The three natural sounds were per- fectly clear and in regular order, but the first or percussion impulse sound was extremely tremulous ; the second or recoil sound was slighily tremulous ; the third was clear. I next took a sphygmographic reading of the pulse, in which all the events belonging to the natural pulse were distinctly marxed. The impulse stroke was short, as was also the first descending stroke; the second ascending stroke was decisive, and the intervening lines between the third and the recurrence of the percussion stroke were shorter than is natural to Mr. Fleuss, as will be seen from the comparison of the two annexed sphygmographic tracings, I and 2. ey eae Soe aa ed ef ite } he qt x. Pulse tracing after one hour’s immersion in water at 49° F. Temperature of mouth c6’, pulse beat 80 per minute. November 15, 8.15 P.M. For the sake of comparison I took a subsequent tracing of Mr. Fleuss’s pulse on the morning of Monday, Novem- ber 17, after breakfast. His pulse was at 68 per minute, the same as it was on Saturday just before he entered the water. It will be seen to be a pulse naturally slow and steady, but not very powerful. 2. Tracing of pulse in its natural or ordinary condition under the same pressure. Beats 68 per minute. November 17, 10.30 A.M. At fully seven minutes after his release from the water the pulse had come down to sixty-eight beats per minute, and the temperature had risen to 97° F. Ten minutes later still the temperature was 976 F-., eight-tenths of a degree below the natural. At this time my observations ceased. The facts above narrated prove that, without assistance from above, a man who has had no previous experience of diving or of remaining under water can take down with him sufficient oxygen to live there easily for an hour. _Mr. Fleuss assured me—and I see no reason to doubt him— that but for the cold he could have remained another hour and a quarter, and that he could easily arrange to remain four hours. Depth would make, he said, no difference as to breathing within the apparatus. The mode by which the breathing is effected remains a secret, but is, he says, extremely simple. At my first observation, when he was under water twenty minutes only, I thought it possible that he carried down sufficient compressed air to live upon, and that he had a means for allowing the expired air to escape into the water. The later experiment shows me that this view was wrong. He could not carry down in the dress sufficient air to last him over an hour, and he does not seem to give out the expired air. I have no knowledge from him or any one 64 NATURE [Vov. 20, 1879 how he breathes in the dress, and although I see how it could be effected, I think it right to leave it to Mr, Fleuss himself to describe the principle of his invention whenever he thinks, from his experiments, the fitting time has arrived. In whatever way Mr. Fleuss gets breathing-room under the water, he has, without a doubt, achieved a great prac- tical success. He has learned how to live independently for a long time shut off from all external access of air. He has learned, if I may so say, to become artificially amphibious, and if his pian succeeds, the cumbrous diving- pumps are done away with and the art of diving is vastly simplified. Again, if he can live so long on the small reserve which he carries down with him in his dress, he has onlyto enlarge the dress, to expand it, that is to say, into a submerged vessel, to be able to go anywhere under the sea and do with intelligence what is now left to unintelligent mecha- nism, What such an intelligent direction might do with torpedoes it is not at all pleasant to contemplate. The plan may be used for the purposes of deep-sea ex- ploration, and the suggestion I made respecting my Salut- landers, that they sought for discoveries on the floors of the great oceans, may be so much nearer to accomplishment than the time which I assigned to it, that I may haply live to have the return laugh at what was called “the most visionary of speculative fancies.” It is equally probable that the aéronaut may be able to rise much higher than he has yet done in this dress, or in a car specially constructed on a similar plan. The apparatus may almost certainly be applied at once to another service very different in kind and on land instead of water, When a man can move about with an air-supply in his pockets, so to speak, he can go into fire as wellas water. In a fire-proof non-conducting dress, provided with Fleuss’s breathing apparatus, a fireman could enter a burning house, and without danger of suffocation go wherever the weight of his body could be borne. Lastly, in wells charged with foul air, or in mines charged with choke-damp and other poisonous gases, the Fleuss apparatus will, I feel certain, prove of the greatest practical service, and I am happy in being the means of introducing it at length to the notice of my con/réres in science. BENJAMIN WARD RICHARDSON NEW GUINEA? ae Seed us lies one of the earliest published maps in which New Guinea is laid down. It belongs to Huygen van Linschoten’s book of East Indian voyages, and was published in the year 1595, being derived largely from Portuguese sources. The map is turned on one side as compared with our present ones, so that at the top, on one hand, appears Japan, strangely shaped, and with the names of the cities curiously spelled, Meacum (the capital, Miaco, Kioto) and Tochis (Tokio?): whilst on the other hand lies New Guinea. At the foot of the map are Sumatra and the Bay of Bengal, and on the left hand China stands prominently upwards from the base of the map, with a camelopard walking about in its midst, regardless of the rules of geographical distribution. The north point lies to the left hand of the map, and the south to the right. New Guinea is represented as a very large and elongate island, the south coast being drawn without definite outline as unexplored, but with the Aru Islands duly shown lying off it. The great island is marked “Os Papvas,” and at its eastern corner is the inscription “ Hic hibernavit Georgius de Menezes.’’ Although Antonio d’Abreu and Francisco Serrao possibly sighted the New Guinea coast in 1511, Dom Jorge de Menezes must be regarded as the actual discoverer of the island. He was driven by the prevailing monsoon out of his course far to 1**A Few Months in New Guinea.”” By Octavius C. Stone, F.R.G.S. (London: Sampson Low and Co., 1880.) the eastward, when attempting to reach the Moluccas, from Malacca, by a new route round the north of Borneo in August, 1526. Having thus reached an island: lying off the coast of Papua, he had to “ winter” there, that is to say, to wait for the periodical change of the monsoon. Accord- ing to Oscar Peschel, the island at which he remained, and which was called Versija, was very possibly one of those lying off Geelvink Bay. It is remarkable how very slowly our knowledge concerning New Guinea grew through the explorations of successive voyagers, since the time of Menezes until within the period of the last ten years, and even now it is quite startling to pick up a small octavo volume and find it jauntily entitled “A Few Months in New Guinea,” as if New Guinea were as familiar and accessible a place as say Iceland or Norway, about which such little books are commonly written by enthu- siastic tourists. We are sorry, indeed, that Mr. Stone’s book is so little, and would have been glad if it had been three times as long, and he had given us further details of all kinds Fic. 1.—Vahu, a Motu youth. concerning his most interesting sojourn amongst the Mota people of the coast, whose God dwells out over the sea, and the mountain-dwelling Koiaris, who believe the dread “ Vata” inhabits the mountain summits. It is close to the east end of New Guinea, and on its southern shore beneath the Owen Stanley range of moun- tains that the Motu country lies. Mr. Stone first made an excursion from Cape York, in the small mission steamer Ellengowan, wp the Maikasa or Baxter River, the mouth of which, on the New Guinea coast, lies due north of the Cape, just on the opposite side of Torres Straits. The river was traversed for sixty-four miles, but then forked, and since both channels were too narrow for the steamer to turn in, further progress was stopped. At this distance even from the river’s mouth, native plantations of yams, sugar-cane, and tobacco were found. A further distance of twenty-six miles was traversed in a small boat, and large numbers of the recently-discovered species of Bird of Paradise, Paradisea raggiana, were met with. The bird does not croak like the Great Bird of Paradise of the Aru Islands, ‘‘wauk wauk,’’ but utters “a peculiar whistle resembling that of a man to his dog,’’ and must he theeins i oval Dee , Nov. 20, 1879] NATURE 65 thus in its note come very near its more distant ally, the Rifle Bird of Cape York and New Guinea (Ptilorhis). As the small boat returned to the steamer it was greeted by the sweet strains of a “barrel-organ,” brought in the hope that it “might please some of the natives.’”’ It is really appalling to realise that a “barrel-organ”’ has penetrated sixty-four miles upa river in New Guinea; and though we heartily wish the organs and their grinders were all in New Guinea, yet, did we regard matters from a missionary and philanthropical point of view, we should Fic. 2,—Burning pottery in Anuarata, have thought twice before attempting to demoralise the musical ears of the poor Papuans with such an instru- ment; or, perhaps, knowing the high ability of the Papuan race, we should have expected such a course to evoke hostility rather than to conciliate. But the mis- sionary charm did not work ; the natives kept well away from the barrel-organ: only one was sighted, and he promptly fled. After a return to Cape York, Mr. Stone, with three assistant natural history collectors, Messrs. Hargrave, Fic. 3.—Trading canoe or lakatoi, Petterd, and Broadbent, proceeded again to New Guinea in the E//engowan, and after touching on the way at Roro or Yule Island, where the natives cultivate fields of from five to thirty acres in extent, inclosed by fences six feet high ; and at Purok on the main land, where the natives have a large circular market-place cleared of grass and trees, and periodically used by surrounding tribes, arrived at Anuapata (Port Moresby) amongst the Motu people on October 29, 1875. The arrival of the white men was not greeted with pleasure by the natives, because many of them had lately died of the measles introduced by the missionaries. The party at once erected their tent, and, proud of their nationality, and apparently taking a leaf out of Mr. Stanley's book, hoisted a union-jack at each end of the roof, and on a pole in front a banner with ‘‘ Excelsior” upon it, thus apparently intimating that they intended to climb the neighbouring mountains if they could. They were soon beset by the natives, whose constant cry, corresponding to that of ‘“‘bacshish,” or the Fuegian “yammerschooner,” is ‘‘kuku lasi’’—“Won’t you give me some tobacco?’’ The Motu people have an in- satiable appetite for ¢vade tobacco. In the evening there was a tremendous hubbub round the tent, and a hostile demonstration caused partly by a Polynesian’ Christian teacher, who, left in charge of the tent, had pointed a gun at would-be intruders, but also partly because the natives were not pleased at the white men persisting in remaining in their country contrary to their wish, and very naturally so, after the experience of the measles. But the natives were luckily afraid of the dark, and were frightened into submission by a display of rockets and of the power of dynamite. As a sort of set-off for thus frightening them almost out of their lives, great care was taken that they should not be corrupted by Sunday trading. The natives have dogs which, like the Australian dingo, do not bark. The author wishes he had had a bulldog with him, for he describes the natives as “ expert thieves, inveterate liars, and confirmed beggars,” and feels sure Fic. 4.—Native cradle. that a dog which could bark would frighten them out o their wits. They ran away from a sheep landed from the Ellengowan. They have strict commercial instincts, and would “see you starve before they gave you food.” Everything has to be bought with “trade gear.” The natives are not cannibals, but were evidently acquainted with cannibalism, for, being firmly persuaded that all the tinned meats consumed by the white men consisted of human flesh, they expressed great disgust at the cannibal practices of their visitors. It is delightful to find the Papuan thus turning the tables on the pioneers of civilisation. The Motu people seem on the whole very much bored | by the presence of the missionaries, excepting when a chapel is formally opened, and there is a big feast in consequence. As they cannot dispose of their teachers in the usual way, perhaps in secret they pray for help to the cassowaries of which the author saw the foot-prints in the neighbourhood, for these voracious birds are, as the naturalist knows, far more at home in New Guinea than at Timbuctoo ; but possibly even New Guinea cassowaries would require the traditional condiment, and matters have not as yet reached the hymn-book stage in Papua. A very amusing account is given of a missionary religious service at Anuapata. It appears that there are bold and contumacious sceptics amongst the Motu people who refuse to assimilate the Jewish cosmogony, and do not mind expressing their opinions freely in public. , “The service was held beneath a roof thatched with grass, supported on posts, open on each side, and fitted at one end with a low stage and reading-desk, Previously 66 NATURE [Wov. 20, 1879 to the present occasion not more than two or three natives had ever attended, but, attracted, no doubt, more by curiosity than by any religious feeling, no less than three hundred, including men, women, and children, were now present, three-fourths of whom were compelled from want of space to remain outside. They appeared to know they ought to be quiet, and some of the eldest seemed to be listening, but the greater part were looking around them and evidently inattentive, apparently taking no interest in the proceedings. The small boys amused themselves by flinging pebbles at one another, making grimaces, or pulling a stray dog’s tail, and sometimes the word koi-koi, meaning ‘lie,’ would be heard in reference to something the missionary was saying.” The Motu people express surprise in a curious and interesting way, namely, by drawing in their lower jaw and clicking their upper teeth with the thumb-nail of the right hand, very much the same gesture as the old European “biting of the thumb.” They also express surprise by smacking their lips. The women are expert makers of pottery. The clay is worked into shape by hand over an earthenware mould, of course without any wheel appliance. The upper and lower halves of a vessel are made sepa- rately and afterwards joined. The pots are baked in an open fire on the sea-beach. They are of a brick-red colour when baked, and are made of three forms—the “ ura,” or cooking-pot, the “hordu,’’ or water-pitcher, and the “nao,” or bowl, The natives start in every November with large cargoes of this pottery on a trading expedition a distance of two hundred miles up the coast ; three or four of the largest canoes are lashed firmly side by side with rattans, and the compound craft thus produced is termed a lakatoi; some of these lakatois are propelled by a dozen square sails and others by a single huge elliptic-shaped sail, which is extremely picturesque in app-arance, but the cause of the peculiar form of which seems very uncertain. In return for the pottery the natives receive sago, yams, taro, sweet potatoes, betel-nuts, and sugar-cane. The re- cord of the undertaking of systematic long voyages, such as these by savages, is a very valuable fact, and helps to account for a rapid spread of cultivated ‘plants, such as tobacco, for example, which doubtless originally reached New Guinea from America through Europeans. Whilst waiting for a start at Anuapata, the crews of the six lakatois from the neighbouring villages, composing the trading fleet, held regattas almost every day to while away the time and get into training. A terrible wailing was made by the womenkind on the day of actual depar- ture, and many embraces between husbands and wives took place upon the beach, and there was much rubbing of noses ; the women escorted the lakatois some distance in single canoes. The mothers rock their babies by swinging them in a net bag suspended from a beam beneath the verandah, and the babies are often carried in these bags. We cannot follow the author further in his account of the Motus, nor cite any of his interesting experiences amongst the Koiaris, The book is well illustrated through- out, and at the end is a short Motu dictionary, and shorter tables of eight other Papuan languages. The Motu people have a name for every different plant and bird, and for ail the conspicuous stars. Numerals are given up to a million. We should almost be inclined to doubt the Motu conception of so high a number; possibly there »may be some mistake in the matter. In the Koitapu language the numerals for eight and nine appear to be formed by subtraction from ten, and to mean (ten) less two and (ten) less one, as in the Admiralty Island lan- guage. The personal names for women are amusing indeed, the first two are probably intended as compli- mentary, but the remaining three can hardly have such a meaning; those cited by the author, when translated, mean “pig,’”’ “thief,” “hungry,” “frightened,” and “bad.” A list of birds drawn up from the author’s important collection by Mr. Bowdler Sharpe closes the book. The author seems to have little or no knowledge of natural history, since he repeatedly speaks of a Dugong as “a large fish,” and further describes it as a “ finny monster,’” and he imagines that the pig was introduced into New Guinea by Capt. Cook. His descriptions of birds, insects, and other animals seen are, however, interesting through- out the book. He gives some valuable information about the pigs. Some are kept tame by the natives, and some of them are very fine and fat; when young they are striped longitudinally, yellow, brown, and black, every other stripe being black; the stripes blend to a general dark brown tint as the animals get older. It is interest- ing to find that the Papuan pig exhibits the same mark- ings as the European young wild boar so plainly. The natives have an ingenious way of catching the wild boar. When the boar charges, after being slightly wounded with a spear, a net with a very wide mesh set on a hoop-like frame is pushed over his head as he rushes forward. He gets his neck into one of the meshes, and with the large hoop about his throat, is helpless, and then easily killed. We commend Mr. Octavius Stone’s book to all classes of readers : there is not a dull page in it. VERTICAL SHAFTS IN THE CHALK IN KENT girs deep caves in the chalk in Kent while preserving a general form in a limited area, present certain differences amongst themselves, which enable us to trace something of their history as to time and object. Those now most easily examined are the latest and best constructed. Though they are not dug at the present day here, there are many old ones that have been worked for chalk. These are distinguished by their irregular shapes and very wide shafts. But there are fine examples now open of which North Kent has many having these general characters—a deep shaft, penetrating the soils (Woolwich pebble beds, Thanet sands and gravels) above the chalk, then the chalk itself from 2 to 5 feet, and widening out into a cave in the latter, mostly without effort at burrowing laterally, and when doing so keeping the shaft in the middle and the general shape of the cave as it were one area, with a due regard for the permanence of the roof. Some had pillars for this purpose left in the chalk, and there is one with four of them which are elegant in form and rounded. This cave being an excellent example of the kind, may be more particularly described. The shaft is 3 feet 3 inches in diameter (a common average), and passing through sand reaches the chalk at 51 feet; then pene- trating it 2 feet widens out into an area of 49 X 38 feet, the sides cut into bays. Two pillars are left, one on each side of the shaft, and in continuation of it, still 3 feet apart, and there are two other pillars in the eastern part. The western part having no pillars has fallen in, and there is a large mound of sandand rubbish in the centre— but the height of the cave is 20 feet, perhaps 22 feet. In this case the access to the chamber is perfect : the shaft is provided with foot-holes from 6 inches to 20 inches (occasionally) in lateral depth; these pass from the surface to the bottom of the central pillars at about 18 inches apart and opposite to each other, and it was easy a few years ago to descend and ascend without assistance, unless perhaps with that of a stick across the mouth of the shaft. Some of the shafts have foot-holes only to the point where they widen out below, when recourse was had to a pole or rope, of course. Most of the caves are simpler than this, and the com- monest form is a mere beehive sort of widening. = All these open caves appear to have been dug with iron icks. : At Greenhithe one has been lately found containing a Nov. 20, 1879] large quantity of Romano-Brit'sh pottery, but it was du& with metal implements, probably of iron. There are two caves at Crayford within 3 feet 3 inches of each other ; they are exposed in the side of a chalk- pit connected with the brick-fields. One of them mea- sured, from the surface to the chalk, about 18 feet ; thence to the floor, 17 feet 6 inches. The floor was of flints, about 6 inches thick, which had been taken up at one part and piled in a heap on the other side of the cave; about a quarter of the area, an irregular oval of 18 feet diameter, had been so treated. From this floor rose an obtuse cone of sandy clay 6 feet high, washed in very slowly and evenly by the rain. In the cone were found flint flakes, and one worked scraper with a rough core, from which flakes had been chipped, but no pottery. Above this, coarser soil and lumps of chalk, with several sorts of broken pottery, very coarse, black, spongy pot, scarcely baked, containing a large quantity of crushed shells not calcined, and a few pieces of pot made with coarsely-pounded chalk—all these either without ornament or only finger-nail marked; then finer pot of Roman moulds, and fine black ware, with a Samian plate. All were accompanied by large quantities of the bones of domestic and food animals for about a foot, then coarse earth and bones to the surface. From about the period of the Roman deposit until now we know the value, and it would not be excessive to date the commencement of the deposit of mud and the abandonment of the cave perhaps at half that period earlier. On the walls of this cave there are no marks of the im- plement by which it was excavated, and the conclusion is that the blocks were prised out. The cave adjoining this fell in early and was soon obliterated. Before knowing of these caves flint flakes and two “pot boilers” were found on the surface. Clusters of these pits are either huddled into small areas sometimes or are spread out into lines, and they are frequent in spots which, from the supply of water, must have been thickly wooded, and so difficult fof access, or from the bleakness of the situation unlikely to be noticed. There is a cluster at Bexley of thirty-five in about three and a half acres, and another of forty-four, Some pits which are mostly filled up now, in the woods, are part of a system and are connected by banks and ditches, and the same banks with earthworks which are of a late stone age, and also with clusters of hut circles, and there is great probability that they served two uses— retreat and storage, and as pitfalls, as to the last with an ingenious contrivance in one instance for driving animals down a deep covered way, either past a pit or, by an arrangement of a simple barrier, shunting them into it for the use of the camp. F, C, SPURRELL PROF, GEIKIE ON THE GEOLOGY OF THE FAR WEST C)* Monday the roth inst. Prof. Geikie reopened the — class of geology in the University of Edinburgh by giving an account of his recent exploration of the western territories of North America. There was a large attend- ance of students and others. The Professor, in the outset, reminded his students that last session he pointed out the remarkable lessons to be learned from the geology of the western regions of North America, more particularly in reference to the changes which had taken place on the surface of the earth from ordinary atmospheric causes. It was with special reference to those changes that he took a journey to the West. Had geology begun in those western terri- tories, instead of among the old broken, gnarled, and con- torted rocks of Europe and the east of America, its progress, at all events in some departments, would have NATURE 67 been far more rapid than it had been. He had three objects in the expedition:—(1) To study the effects of atmospheric and river erosion upon the surface of the land ; there being no region where these lessons could be learned with more wonderful impressiveness than in those great plateaux and table lands. (2) To mark the relation which the structure of the rocks underneath bore to the form of the surface. In this country and in Europe generally one was continually brought face to face with evidence of dislocations, protrusion of igneous. rocks, contortions, and other complicated forms of geo- logical structure which, save to experts in the subject, made it often difficult to realise how much of the present irregularity of the surface should be attributed to unequal waste by ordinary atmospheric causes, and how much to thedirect effects of underground movements. The Western States and Territories of North America over which the ‘strata, for thousands of square miles, retained their original horizontality, presented remarkable facilities for the investigation of this subject, and had already, in the hands of King, Hayden, Powell, Dutton, and others, furnished ample materials for satisfactory discussion. (3) To watch with his own eyes some of the last phases of volcanic action. He had been familiar with the phenomena of active volcanic vents as displayed in Italy and the Lipari Isles; but he was anxious to see some of those marvellous evidences of the gradual decay of a vast volcanic area so well displayed in the famous region of the Yellowstone. The Professor went on to give a brief ac- count of hisjourney. He stated that he was accompanied throughout by a former student of the class, Mr. Henry Drummond, F.G.S., whose constant hearty co-operation had been one main element in the success of the expedition. His route first lay westwards by railway into Colorado. In crossing the prairies towards the Rocky Mountains he noted, in the few sections that occurred, soft grey creta- ceous or tertiary claysand marls. Getting down at some of the stations, and looking at the ant-hills and burrows of the prairie dog, he found that the surface of the prairies was veneered with a thin coating of a pinkish, fine- grained sand, sometimes approaching to gravel, its colour being due to the presence of a great many small pieces of fresh felspar. It was clear that this mineral, as well as the quartz and occasional fragments of topaz, which he saw, did not belong to the strata on which they lay. In going west, the grains of sand, getting coarser, assumed the form of distinct pebbles, till, when he reached the mountains, they became huge blocks and_ boulders, evidently derived from the heights beyond. The cause of this wide diffusion of sand and gravel over the prairies was constantly present to his mind during the rest of the journey, and he took occasion on returning eastward to halt and make a more detailed examination of the subject. The term “Rocky Mountains,” he remarked, was a singularly unfortunate designation, under which had been included a great many independent and totally distinct mountain ranges. On most maps of North Americaa continuous line of lofty ridge was inserted down the axis of the continent and marked “ Rocky Mountains.” But no such ridge existed. The great plateau had been wrinkled byinnumerable meridional folds which, dying out, were replaced by others. Some of these folds formed notable ranges of mountains with wide basins or plateaux between them. It was thus possible to cross the axis of the continent without traversing any mountains, rocky or otherwise. The line of the Union Pacific Railroad followed one of these natural routes. At its highest point (upwards of 8,000 feet); so little did the landscape suggest the altitude, that it had been found desirable to erect there a wooden placard with the title “Summit of the Rocky Mountains.” C é : Crossing the Missouri River at Kansas City, and strik- ing westwards to Denver, the Professor said he halted for 68 NATURE [Vov. 20, 1879 a little while on the flanks of the great mountain range that formed the colossal bulwarks of the parks of Colorado. As seen from the prairies they rose in a picturesque line of peaks, visible in the clear atmosphere of these regions at an incredible distance, and looking at first like mere low islets, the greater part of their bulk being still hidden beneath the sea-like surface of the prairie. Composed of crystalline rocks these crests had been pushed as a great wedge through the cretaceous and tertiary rocks of the prairies, and had carried those rocks up with them in a grandly picturesque curve along their flanks. An excur- sion into some of the gorges or canons by which the flanks of these mountains are trenched, brought to notice some interesting facts connected with the surface erosion of the district. He then found the source of the pink felspar sand of the prairie ; it had been borne down from this region, where great masses of pink granite, grey gneiss, and other crystalline rocks formed the core of the mountains, and were visibly crumbling into the same kind of pink sand and gravel. He found that the mountains had been covered with glaciers which had gone out into the plains and shed their huge horse-shoe shaped moraines where now everything was parched and barren. Having crossed the watershed of the continent, he struck westward into the Uintah Mountains, one of the few ranges in that region that had an east and west direction. This range had been visited by Hayden, had been mapped by Clarence King and his associates, and its eastern end had been carefully examined by Powell. It formed one of the most remarkable elevations in North America. Unlike the other mountainous high grounds it _ possessed no great central core of crystalline azoic rocks, but consisted of a vast flattened dome of red sandstones, dipping steeply down beneath mesozoic rocks on either flank. The precise geological age of these sandstones had been a matter of dispute. King had regarded them as carboniferous. In their lithological characters they much resemble some of the old red sandstone of Scot- Jand, while some of the more compact portions, recalled the red Cambrian sandstones of Applecross and Assynt. One feature of surpassing interest in the Uintah Moun- tains was the evidence of enormous denudation, continued through a protracted cycle of geological time. The horizontality of the strata along the central parts of the range was such that terrace above terrace could be traced by the eye for miles around any commanding peak. The rocks there had escaped crumpling and fracture to a re- markable degree. It could therefore be seen that the deep gullies and clefts, the yawning precipices and canons, the wide corries and vast amphitheatres by which the surface was so broken up had been produced not by underground disturbances but by erosion at the surface. Most of this tremendous denudation had doubtless been effected by ordinary atmospheric action. The speaker de- scribed the disintegrating effects of the remarkable daily Vicissitudes of temperature in this region, the action of wind, as well as of melting snow, and occasional torrents of rain. But he showed that the mountains had also nourished large glaciers, and that these, filling up the main valleys had protruded into the plains beyond. They had left behind them numerous lake basins, some ground out of the horizontal sandstones, others dammed up by fallen moraine ddris. Striking into one of the valleys, he found it crossed by beautiful horse-shoe moraines that had once formed a succession of lakes, of which the sites were now occupied by meadows. In these and other high grounds, however, it was the beaver, which, by its dams, converted even the small streams into a succession of shallow lakes. In most of these valleys there were hundreds of acres of bog land entirely due to the damming of the water by the beavers. The Uintah Mountains were flanked by ranges of low and sometimes fantastic hills, #zesas or terraces, and isolated Suttes or outliers, included under the general term “mauvaises terres” or “bad lands.” This designation referred to the fact that the ground was everywhere crumbling down under the action, of the weather, and nothing would grow upon it. The strata of these bad lands were flat or nearly so, and showed their lines of bedding with singular precision along the faces of the crumbling cliffs and slopes. They had an arid and almost ghastly aspect, grey, verdigris green and yellow, as they rose out of the sandy wastes at their base. It was from these strata that Prof. Marsh had obtained some of the marvellous reptilian and other forms which he had described from the eocene and cretaceous rocks of the West. Prof. Geikie narrated a ride through the forest lands of the mountains, and gave an account of how the party, benighted away from camp, had to pass the night without food on the bare ground, and how the forest around them caught fire. The journey to the Yellowstone region was one of great tediousness and discomfort. Having letters from the Secretary of War and the Quartermaster-General of the United States, the party received every attention at Fort Ellis, where a pleasant day or two were spent, examining with the officers of the garrison the geology of the district. From this point the journey was performed on horseback and with a pack train of mules, the officer in command at Fort Ellis having furnished an outfit, scout and escort. The Professor gave a narrative of the traverse of the Yellowstone country, dwelling specially on the evidences of former successive periods of volcanic eruption, and on the proofs of intense glaciation to be observed in the ascent of the valley of the Yellowstone River. The tokens of a long period of volanic activity contemporaneous with the operations of the river, resembled those of Auvergne, but on a much larger scale. The mountains around con- sisted mainly of crystalline rocks such as gneiss, schist, and granite. The volcanic action appeared to have been chiefly confined to the valley. Sheet after sheet of lava had been poured out, and these, one after another, had been cut through by the river. The edges of some of the lava plateaux could now be seen crowning the summits of steep slopes or even cliffs far above the level of the stream below. So great had been the general erosion that no distinct craters remained now visible. But what ap- peared to be the stumps of some of these, filled up with a coarse volcanic agglomerate, were here and _ there observed. The lavas offered a vast and tempting field of investigation, presenting as they did a great number of petrographical varieties. Some of the obsidians were particularly interesting in their pumiceous and spher- ulitic characters. The Grand Cafon of the Yellowstone, cut out of these volcanic masses, was described as perhaps the most marvellous piece of mineral colour any- where to be seen in the world. It had been cut out of tuffs and lavas, showing sulphur yellow, verdigris or emerald, green, vermilion, crimson, and orange tints, so marvellous that, if transferred to paper or canvas they would be pronounced incredible and impossible ; the lec- turer said he had spent a day in making a careful water colour ,study of this cafion, but he hardly expected to get any of his friends to believe in the truthfulness of his colouring. During the ascent of the Yellowstone Valley the evi- dence of former extensive glaciation was abundant and conclusive. The party had hardly been in the valley a quarter of an hour when they descried, not far above the upper end of the first or lowest cafion, a large block among some mounds in the centre of the plain. This proved to be an erratic of coarse granitoid gneiss, lying among many others of smaller size. The mounds, mani- festly moraines, curved in vast crescents across the broad plain of the Yellowstone. Further] mounds and scattered blocks were noted in the ascent of this great expansion of the valley. On reaching the entrance of the second cafion, the Professor found it most exquisitely glaciated Nov. 20, 1879] NATURE ae). » a +4 : wv 69 from bottom to top. It reminded him of the wonderful ice-polished precipice on the left bank of the Aar glacier, above the Grimsel. It was clear, therefore, that not only was this second cajion old ; it was older than the glacial period ; it had supplied a channel for the glacier that ground its way out from the mountains. Endeavouring to estimate the minimum thickness of the ice, he traced with the eye the glaciated surfaces up to the summit of the declivity—a height of at least 800, perhaps 1,000 feet,—and they evidently went still higher. In going further up the valley, he found that the blocks of granite and gneiss, dropped by the glacier as it melted, went far above I000 feet. He got them on the shoulders of one of the great hills overlooking the valley 1,600 or 1700 feet above the plain. The ice, therefore, must have been not less than 1,600 or 1,700 feet thick, and must have passed across in- tervening ridges into adjacent valleys. It thus appeared that not only did glaciers occupy the valleys of this region, but that some of them were of such thickness as to deserve the name of ice-sheets, covering the whole surrounding region. Leaving the Yellowstone Valley, the party struckthrough the forest, and after a two days’ ride reached the Upper Fire-Hole Basin of the now famous geyser region. Prof. Geikie gave a general sketch of the aspect of this district, and described the operations of one or two of the geysers which he witnessed. After the long ride through an arid region and dusty wastes, he tried hard here to get a pool to wash in, but could find nothing below 212°, and the only chance of getting a warm bath was to find some hole where the water had had time to cool after flowing out of the hot crater. The whole ground was honey-combed with holes, each filled with gurgling boiling water. One geyser, affectionately and gratefully known as ‘Old Faithful,” went off with wonderful regularity every 63 minutes ; the others were more capricious. The singular depositions round the orifices of eruption and round the margins of the pools on the ‘cones were referred to, and among other interesting phenomena an account was given of the “ Devil’s Paint Pot,” a mud geyser, throwing out white and brilliantly-coloured mud, boil- ing like a great vat of rather thick pasty porridge, and surrounded with small mud cones, each of which had formerly been a point of emission. In quitting the Yellowstone region, it was impessible not to reflect with admiration upon the labours of the explorers who had first made known the wonders of this remote and inaccessible region. The Reports of Hayden and his associates were found to be most trustworthy and useful. Nor. could one forget the sagacity with which Hayden proposed, and the enlightened liberality with which Congress enacted, that for all time the Yellowstone Region should be a tract set apart as a national park for the instruction and recreation of the people. On the way out of the mountains by Henry’s Lake and the head of the Snake River branch of the Columbia River, the travellers came upon a party of armed Indians, who explained that they were out of their reservation on their way toa council of Indians in Montana. As the great outbreak of the White River Utes, who killed Major Thornburgh and his men, took place only about ten days or so later, and as there was then some excitement among the tribes to the West, the geologists, though pleased at the time to have seen the noble red man in his war-paint among his native wilds, came to think that on the whole they might congratulate themselves on having seen no more of him. Only last year the Yellowstone country was dangerous from roving bands of Indians, several lives having been lost in it. Leaving the Indians, who pursued their northward course in a bee-line, the travellers held westward along the edge of the vast basalt plateau of the Snake River—one of the most extensive lava fields in the world. A great plain, thousands of square miles in extent, had there been deluged with dark basalt. No cones or eminences appeared from which the lava migh have been poured. Perhaps the eruptions took place from open fissures. Here and there later cones had risen upon the plain, belonging, doubtless, to some of the later stages of the volcanic activity. Some of these cones still retained well-shaped craters. Reaching eventually the basin of the Great Salt Lake, one of the first geological features that struck the tra- vellers was the evidence of the former vast expansion of the Salt Lake. Lines of terrace ran as prominent features along the sides of the mountains, the highest of them standing at a height of nearly 1000 feet above the present level of the lake. Striking into some of the canons descending from the Wahsatch Mountains into the Salt Lake Basin, Prof. Geikie found the rocks smoothed, polished, and striated by the glaciers that had come down from the heights and had brought with them great quan- tities of moraine matter. Mounds of rubbish blocked up the valleys here and there, and some of them he observed to descend to the level of the highest terrace. Hence when the Salt Lake extended far beyond its present area, and was about tooo feet deeper than now,.the glaciers from the Wahsatch Mountains reached its edge and shed their bergs over its waters. Bones of the musk-ox had been found in one of the terraces, showing that an arctic fauna lived in this region during these cold ages. On his return journey the Professor resumed the exami- nation of the surface deposits of these prairies. Coming out of the Colorado Mountains, he noted, in connection with the gravel formerly observed, great quantities of a peculiar grey clay or /vess inter-stratified with the gravel, and here and there containing a small terrestrial shell (Succinia vermeta). It was a freshwater deposit, one that had been swept by the waters coming down from the mountains over the prairie. It might be regarded as marking one of the phases in the period during which the gravel and sand were being thrown down. ‘Tracing the gravel mounds over an extensive tract, he found that they had been deposited irregularly, as might have been the case from the action of water escaping tumultuously and interruptedly from the melting ends of the ice. The water currents would traverse the plain now in one direc- tion, now in another. The whole prairie, for many leagues east from the mountains, must have been flooded with water derived from the melting ends of the great glaciers. By these successive floods the gravel and sand were spread out irregularly over the plain, and during the same prolonged period of ablation of the ice there were here and there greater streams or periods of more muddy water, when the fine grey loess was diffused over the flats, as has taken place in the valleys of the Danube and Rhine. No doubt some of the fine detritus may be travelling eastward still, for though the rainfall over much of the prairie country is exceedingly slight, it may suffice to give the fine particles of sand and gravel an intermittent movement to lower levels. NOTES WE take the following from the 7imes:—The medals awarded and recommended by the Council of the Royal Society for the present year are: The Copley medal to Prof. Rudolph J. E. Clausius, of Bonn, for his well-known researches upon heat ; the Davy medal to Mr. P. E. Lecoq de Boisbaudran for his discovery of gallium; a Royal medal to Mr. William Henry Perkin, F.R.S., for his synthetical and other researches in organic chemistry; and a Royal medal to Prof. Andrew Crombie Ramsay, F.R.S., for his long-continued and successful labours in geology and physical geography. These medals will be pre- sented at the anniversary meeting of the Society, on December 1, when Mr. W. Spottiswoode will deliver his first annual addres as president. 7O NATURE _ [WVov. 20, 1879 es aa Ra a aa a Tue following is the list of office-bearers to be proposed at the annual meeting of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, on Novemher 24:—President, the Right Hon, Lord Moncreiff; Vice-presidents, the Right Rey. Bishop Cotterill, Principal Sir Alexander Grant, Bart., David Milne Home, LL.D., Sir C. Wyville Thomson, LL.D., Prof. Douglas Maclagan, M.D., Prof. H.C. Fleeming Jenkin, F.R.S. ; General Secretary, Prof. Tait; Secretaries to Ordinary Meetings, Prof. Turner, Prof. Crum Brown; Trea- surer, David Smith ; Curator of Library and Museum, Alexander Buchan, M.A.; other Members of Council, Prof, Rutherford, Dr. R. M. Ferguson, Rev. W. Lindsay Alexander, D.D., Dr. Thomas A. G. Balfour, J. Y. Buchanan, Rev. Thomas Brown, Robert Gray, Dr. William Robertson, Prof, Campbell Fraser, Prof. Geikie, Rev. Dr. Casenove, David Stevenson, M. Inst. C.E. A GRAND diploma of honour has been granted by the Jury- men of the Champs Elysées Exhibition to the Signal Corps of the United States for its magnificent set of maps. No other public institution has sent anything to compete with so formid- able an opponent. AxouT thirty members of the Academy of Sciences have memorialised M, Jules Ferry, the Minister for Public Instruc- tion, in order to obtain a promotion in the Legion d’Honneur on behalf of M. Henry Giffard, the inventor of the injector and the originator of many interesting experiments in aéronautics. M. Giffard was created a Chevalier about eighteen years ago. Proressors A. WINNECKE (Strassburg) and G. B. Schia- parelli (Milan) have been nominated correspondents of the physico-mathematical class of the Royal Academy of Sciences of Berlin. THE magnificent series of scientific collections at Dresden have recently been further enlarged by the addition of an ethno- graphical and anthropological museum. Many of the objects now exhibited in the lecture-hall of the ‘‘ Zwinger” had accu- mulated since the year 1857, and the director, in due recognition of the important position now occupied by ethnography and anthropology in the list of natural sciences, has recently made considerable purchases for the opening of the new museum. The director in question is the well-known New Guinea traveller, Dr, A. B, Meyer, under whose able superintendence the Dresden Zoological Museum is also placed. WE are glad to receive from Mr. E. W. Lewis his ‘‘ Lectures on the Geology of Leighton Buzzard and its Neighbourhood,” which were given to the Working Men’s Club of that town. We should like to see lectures of this kind become more and more common ; it is a good method of exciting an interest in science and of encouraging the study of local natural history; it is certainly much better than giving a vechauffée of scientific text- books. Ar the meeting of the India Council, last week, a final de- cision was come to regarding the disposal of the India Museum. The Museum will be taken over, as is proper, by the Lord President, and will be administered by the South Kensington authorities ; important collections in illustration of the Indian building art of antiquity, and of the economic, mineral, vegetable, and animal productions of India will, therefore, now be from time to time sent to the great centres of the United Kingdom, The botanical part has been intrusted to the authorities at Kew. A grant of 2,coo/, has been made for the enlargement of the Kew Museum on that account, and a small annual sum will be allowed for contingent expenses and to secure the services of an expert cryptogamist in con- nection with the collection. In its economic section the India Museum was little more than a very costly duplicate of Kew, which it could never approach in encyclopedic completeness, and it will necessarily be of incalculable benefit to the India Office to keep its economic collections for the future at Kew, where they will be in charge of the first English botanists, In fact, the Indian Secretary will now always have the assurance that the reports on Indian products forwarded by him to the local Governments in India have not only been carefully prepared by his own officers, but are supported by the best scientific advice in this country. The Kew authorities, in continuation of a scheme set on foot by Dr. Forbes Watson, the late Reporter on Products, have undertaken to supply out of their surplus stores samples of Indian articles to any museums in our larger manufacturing and commercial towns which will undertake the cost of suitably exhibiting them tothe public. As to the zoological collection, it has always been understood that it would be transferred to the British Museum on the completion by the trustees of their new Natural History Museum at South Kensington. The Buddhistic sculptures will also be taken by the British Museum, _THE Times Naples correspondent, writing under date November 8 and 10, states that Vesuvius, which for some time had been capricious in its action, had for a week previously hoisted its red flag. This arises from a small eruptive cone which has sprung up in the centre of the large crater of 1872, and which now rises a few metres above its border. To com- pare great things with small, the appearance of the summit is that of a small cup in the centre of an immense saucer, The saucer is almost full of lava, which, says the Osservatorio Vesuviano, or Prof. Palmieri, has run over the side since October 30, and continues its downward progress on the side of the cone. It is fortunate, says the Osservatorio, that on the side on which they are constructing the funicular railwaygthere is a considerable cavity which is not yet filled, so that hopes are entertained that some time will elapse before the lava presents itself in that direction, It may happen, too, adds Palmieri, that an eccentric eruption may occur which will prevent the accumu- lation of more material. It is thought that a crisis in the history of the mountain is approaching; either there will be a great discharge, such as will terrify the neighbourhood, or, as is more likely, there will be an overflowing of lava, covering the cone with a mantle of fire, and silently inflicting more destruction on property than a grand eruption. Vesuvius has been in an active state now for several years, and Prof, Palmieri has from the first prophesied that the,eruption would consist in ‘the over- flowing of lava, On the roth Vesuvius was covered with snow down to its middle, a rare thing so early in the year, Tue juvenile lectures of the Society of Arts will be given this year by Mr. W. H. Preece, on ‘‘ Wonders of Sound” and “‘ Wonders of Light.”” The dates for his lectures are December 30 and January 6, THE French Minister for Commerce has sent to the Academy of Sciences a request to know whether a diagometer can be relied upon for ascertaining whether olive oil has been adulte- rated by common seed oil, and in what proportion. Prof. Palmieri, the director of the Vesuvian Observatory, sent M. Dumas a pamphlet published at the expense of the Chamber of Commerce of Naples nine years ago, showing that the problem had been solved by this apparatus. The principle is the same as the bifilar magnetometer, also invented and designed by Palmieri. WE have received programmes of the new session of the numerous societies united together under the name of the Cum- berland Association for the Advancement of Literature and Science. The programmes of lectures and ordinary meetings are fairly divided between the two fields, The continued prosperity of this provincial association for culture is exceedingly gratifying. THE Pacific Steam Navigation Company have begun to use Nov. 20, 1879] oh aes NATURE m1 the electric light in the illumination of the saloons on board their steamers. WE are glad to be able to acknowledge the receipt of the Report of the Sheffield meeting of the British Association. This early publication is decidedly a mark of progress, For the first time in its history the Paris Academy of Sciences has regular archives, More than seven hundred cases are filled up with scientific memoirs and documents from the end of the seventeenth century to the present time. Scientific papers left by Réaumur and Ampére are a part of this unexampled col- lection. THE bequest of the late Mr. John Miers, F.R.S., to the British Museum, consists of his herbarium of South American plants which he made during his long stay in that country 3 original drawings and the manuscripts of his published works ; and some unpublished manuscripts. Among the more impor- tant of his unpublished manuscripts is a list of the native names of the plants, The extent of the herbarium is about 20,000 sheets, on which the specimens are carefully mounted, and as it includes the type specimens figured in Mr. Miers’s publications, the acquisition to the Museum is of great value. The cases in which the collection was kept form part of the bequest. It was only last year, when nearly ninety, that Mr. Miers published his ““Apocynaceze of South America,” with general remarks on the whole family. The work, which was of 277 quarto pages, was illustrated by 35 plates. The ‘‘Contributions to Botany,” published in three volumes in 1861, 1869, and 1871, were illus- trated by 153 plates, and contained 940 quarto pages of letter- press. All the originals of these are included in the collection sent to the British Museum. There are also a large number of other drawings and sketches of dissections. On October 10 a Iarge balloon fell on a farm in the town of Milwaukee, U.S. The air-ship was picked up and temporarily stored in a warehouse. On the 11th an in- spection of the canvas was made, to ascertain whether it was the Pathfinder, a balloon in which Prof. Wyse had as- cended some days previously in company of a gentleman, and had not been heard of since. It was proved that this balloon had been liberated on Thursday, October 7, at six in the even- ing, at Waukosha in Wisconsin, and had been wandering in the atmosphere. Before being discovered in Milwaukee, it had been seen coming from Lake Michigan in an opposite direction to where Waukosha lies. The body of Prof. Wyse has not been recovered, but the gentleman who had ascended with him was found drowned and naked. It was supposed he had prepared to escape by swimming, and precipitated himself into the water. THE Manchester Field Naturalists and Archeologists send us an interesting and varied Report for 1877. It contains an account of the numerous excursions made and the papers read at the Society's meetings, THE seyeral stations of meteorology which have been esta- blished in several parts of Paris, according to a vote of the Municipal Council, have been in complete operation for a few months. Startling differences have been occasionally discovered between the readings taken by the several observers at a distance of a very few miles. ; THE age on M, Thiers was pronounced by M. Henry Martin before the French Institute on November 13. M. Marmier returned thanks in the name of the Académie Francaise. The lecturer made allusion to the studies of M. Thiers in astronomy under the guidance of M. Leverrier, and in chemistry, of M. St. Claire Deville. It was stated that many experiments were made by the late President of the French Republic in the last years of Napoleon III.’s rule. These experiments were con- ducted in the laboratory of the Ecole Normal Supérieure, rue a’ Ulm. THE additions to the Zoological Society’s Gardens during the past week include a Bonnet Monkey (Macacus radiatus) from India, presented by Mr. L. H. Ruegg; a Banded Ichneumon (Herpestes fasciatus) from West Africa, presented by Mr. H. L. Cocksedge ; a Mace’s Sea Eagle (Haliaétus leucoryphus) from India, presented by Capt. Butler; a Pomatorhine Skua (Ster- corius pomatorhinus), British, presented by Mr, F. L. Smith; a Woodcock (Scolopax rusticola), British, presented by Mr. J- Pollard ; a King Penguin (Aftenodytes pennanti) from the Staten Islands, Cape Horn, a Cinereous Vulture (Viltur monachus), Europe, a Downy Owl (Pulsatrix torguata) from South America, deposited ; a Water Rail (Ra//us aguaticus), British, an Anaconda (Zumnectes murinus) from South America, pur- chased, OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN THE BieLA Comer METEORS.—Assuming, as some astro- nomers will probably be inclined to do, that Biela’s comet has now lost the cometary form in which it presented itself to us from 1772 to 1852, and that its constitutuent particles, or whatever we may term them, are drawn out into a stream or band, beyond the circumstance of a great aggregation having been encountered by the earth on the evening of November 27, 1872, we are ignorant of the position of any other centre or centres of con- densation that may exist, and even of the real extent of that which has been observed, along the comet's track ; and hence it is desirable that a watch for the Biela meteors should be main- tained during the whole of the last week in the present month, We are not assuming as a consequence of the disruption of Biela’s comet before it was generally observed in 1846, that such is the actual condition of its constituent parts; Mr. Pogson’s observations of a cometary body at Madras in December, 1872, require that such an assumption should be taken at present czmz grano, but under any circumstances observations about the time when the earth approaches nearest to the orbit of the comet this year, will possess great interest, and we hope there may be an effective organisation of observers. In 1852, when the comet was last observed, its period of revolution, in the instantaneous ellipse at perihelion, was 2,417% days; the effect of planetary perturbation thence tended to increase the period, so that in January, 1866, the latest time to which the calculations have been carried, the revolution extended to 2,445 days, according to Michez and Clausen. If this were about the period of the meteoric mass which the earth encountered on November 27, 1872, it is very doubtful if we shall be in proximity to it again during the present century ; nevertheless, as above remarked, we do not know its extent along the orbit, and other aggregations may exist. A body moving in the orbit of Biela, and approaching the earth at this date, would be at a distance of about 1°4 from the planet Jupiter in September, 1878, and there might be very sensible effect upon the period of revolution. ; A New NesuLa.—Dr, Tempel states that on September 19 he found a new nebula which, from his description, appears to be nearly as bright as an average second-class of Sir W. Herschel, and is therefore deserving of attention on the score of possible variability, since in these days we hardly expect to meet with many unknown second-class nebulz visible in European Jatitudes, Dr. Tempel mentions that there is a central glimmer as from very minute stars : it is about one minute in diameter, and its position for the beginning of the present year is in R.A, 22h. 41m. 25s., N.P.D. 102° 271: it is very little fainter than the nebula II. 744. He adds that he has often sought for the nebula No. 49 of Auwers, which should be near the new one, but has only found in its assigned po-ition a star of 12m., which has a very faint companion. Auwers 49 is the object observed as a star 11°5m. on October 8, 1855, in one of the Markree zones, and called ‘‘nebulous;” position for 1850 in R.A. 22h. 52m. 355., N.P.D. 101° 19'"9. The late Mr. Edward Cooper had so un- favourable an opinion of the climate in his locality for astrono- mical purposes (perhaps from long experience of the skies of | Italy), that probably he would not have been surprised at the discovery of any number of ‘‘nebulous” objects at Markree ; but the four volumes of positions of small stars for which astronomers are indebted to him, sufficiently illustrate the good work that may be effected by well-directed energy and skilful arrangement, even in such a climate as we remember to have heard him describe that of Slig>. Pons expressed his fear that 72 SwATURE [Wov. 20, 1879 the second comet of 1826 would be “ drowned in Eridanus,” as the sky had been overcast ever since it entered this constellation ; om which Mr. Cooper (‘* Cometic Orbits,” p. 152) is tempted to remark that, had Pons ‘‘written from the interior of Ireland, there would have been little to fear, for he might have made quite sure of it!” Tue SATELLITES oF MArs.—Both satellites of Mars have been observed with the Washington refractor; the measures of Deimos commenced on October 13, clouds interfering on the roth, when it was first seen, and those of Photos on the 12th. The correction required to the periodic time of Deimos, as deter- mined by Prof. Asaph Hall from the observations of 1877, is so small that it will only be certainly ascertained from an exact dis- cussion of the measures at this opposition ; the periodic time of Phobos requires to be diminished 1°074s., or the corrected period is 7h. 39m. 13°996s. Phobos and Deimos are also under observation with the Ealing reflector. PHYSICAL NOTES THE Scientific American describes a self-resonant tuning-fork, the invention of the indefatigable Edison. It consists of a tube of thick bell-metal closed at one end, and sawed down longitu- dinally nearly to the closed end, thus making two ‘‘ prongs” united to a common base. To tune the prongs into unison with the column of air between them, the tube is put into a lathe and turned thinner and thinner until unison is reached. But how such forks are made of any precise pitch, or how the inclosed air-column contrives to vibrate in spite of the long lateral cuts, our contemporary does not vouchsafe to inform us, There are not many organ-pipes that would resound to their proper note with a saw-cut incised down them front and back. For observation of atmospheric electricity M. Mascart (Yourz. de Phys., October) uses a Thomson electrometer connected with a vessel having continuous outflow of water. The deflections of the needle are transmitted every two and a half minutes to a pencil which records them on a sheet of paper. The series of traces forms a curve, not continuous, indeed, but nearly so. This apparatus was put in action at the College of France in the end of February this year, and the curves obtained during the fol- lowing five months present several interesting features. The potential of the air is shown to be generally positive, with more or less rapid variations, In bad weather the curves become more irregular ; rain nearly always produces very great negative de- flections. The change of sign appears before the rain comes, and sometimes rain is followed by very high positive indications. There are also some very rare cases of positive rains, and of great negative deflections without apparent rain in the neighbourhood. (This predominance of negative electricity in rain clouds M, Mascart regards as an important point in the question of the origin of atmospheric electricity.) Neglecting accidental varia- tions, one is struck by the fact that the electricity is much more uniform at night and more variable by day. The potential is also considerably higher at night than in the day. The maxi- mum seems to occur about 9 or Io P.M.; the curve descends slowly towards 6 A.M., then more rapidly ; reaches a minimum about 3 P.M., and then rises again in a nearly uniform manner, The indications by the curves are confirmed by numerical tables of monthly averages of eight daily observations at three hours’ interval. The results thus obtained are in contradiction with ideas commonly adopted. M. Mascart remarks that the con- tinuous maximum of positive electricity observed at night may be of an exceptional character, owing to the anomalous season; He also suggests the possibility of previous observations having been vitiated through defective insulation. THE influence of changes of temperature and pressure on double refraction has been recently investigated by Herr Pfaff, of the Erlangen Society of Physics and Medicine, and with (briefly) the following results :—In crystals of the rhombohedric system, when the temperature is raised, double refraction diminishes in quartz, but increases in vesuvianite, beryl, and apatite; it is not changed in Iceland spar (perpendicular to the principal axis), carbonates of iron and of magnesia, tourmaline, mellite, ferro- cyanide of potassium, zircon, and cassiterite. In the orthorhombic system it increases in the case of arragonite (| erpendicular to the median line), celestine (parallel to P); it diminishes in topaz, celestine, and heavy spar (perpendicular to the median line). In the clinorhombic system it diminishes in adularia (parallel to the median line) and mica; it increases in gypsum (parallel to the primary cleavage), remains constant in anhydrite, topaz, arragonite (inclined to the median line), witherite, carbonate of lead, adularia parallel to M), and ,the anorthie crystals, albite, oligoclase, labrador, anorthite, axinite, cyanite, and sulphate of copper. Pressure on the whole surface produces the same effect as a lowering of temperature in carbonate of mag- nesia, Iceland spar, celestine, gypsum, and heavy spar; the others do not present any modification, even those which, like topaz and vesuvianite, are very sensitive to variations of tempe- rature, PrRoF, REITLINGER and Dr. Urbanitzky have recently pre- sented to the Vienna Academy the first portion of a :memoir ‘*On the Phenomena of Geissler Tubes under External Action,” giving in more developed form, an investigation, of which they had already published some results, Various interesting experi- ments are described, e.g., with reference to the attractions and repulsions of the light columns in Geissler tubes, and a possible joint action of the electrostatic and dynamic states in these, the authors hung a strip of tinfoil (15 ctm. long) from a platinum electrode at the top of a tube, 20 ctm. long, connected with a mercury pump (the second electrode being a straight platinum wire), Before rarefaction commenced the strip flew to the side, immediately the Ruhmkorff was set in action, But on rarefying, this phenomenon became less pronounced, till at 7 mm, the strip hung freely down in the middle. When in this state, it was attracted by a shellac rod rubbed with cloth, and repelled by 2 glass rod rubbed with amalgam (if the strip was connected with the positive pole, conversely in the other case) ; but these actions diminished as the rarefaction proceeded, becoming hardly percep- tible at 4 mm. with the strip positive, and even at 6 mm, in the other case. A good conductor brought near caused attraction at all degrees of rarefaction in one case; but this, too, disappeared in the other. An experiment showing how the action of static electricity on a conductor is arrested when the latter is made a carrier of dynamic electricity, was made by bringing a rubbed glass or vulcanite rod near the strip, which thereupon went from the vertical to an inclined position, On sending through it the induction current (in either direction) the strip recurred at once to the vertical and remained there. M. NiAvpeT has lately constructed for Prof. Stefan, of Vienna, a Gramme magneto-electric machine, in which the permanent steel magnets are of circular form, instead of the usual elongated horse-shoe shape. The soft iron cheeks which embrace the rotating armature are also of a peculiar form. The new machine is much more compact than those hitherto con- structed, and gives very satisfactory results. A veERY singular theory of electricity and magnetism has recently been put forward by M. Bjerknes, who endeavours to explain the various phenomena upon mechanical principles. If a number of spherical bodies are plunged in an incompressible liquid, in the midst of which they execute isochronous vibrations, they are found to exercise certain forces upon one another, These forces may be either attractive or repvlsive, according to the nature of the motions executed. Thus the actions exercised by an electrified particle may be illustrated by a pulsating sphere, that is to say, one which periodically increases in volume. A sphere vibrating to and fro similarly represents a magnetic par- ticle. Unfortunately, however, the theory, to be applicable to electric and magnetic phenomena, would require the forces to act just in opposite directions to that which is found to be the case; for with M, Bjerknes’ spheres the like poles attract, while the dissimilar poles repel. Experimentally, the attractions and repulsions thus theoretically deduced have been observed by means of an ingenious apparatus constructed for the inventor in Sweden, The pulsating bodies are a species of elastic capsule suspended from knife-edges by a hollow tube, by means of which the air is forced into and out of the capsule in rapid alternations. The vibrating bodies are little spheres set in motion by delicate levers. The mechanism is in each case driven by a pulley turned by hand, The liquid in which they are immersed is water, and the resultant attractions and repulsions are very clearly demon- strated. M. Gernez has been studying the little-known phenomena of evaporation and distillation under the influence of electrification, discovered by the Abbé Nollet in 1746. The results of M. Gernez’s observations have been communicated by him to the Physical Society of Paris, and are of considerable interest. Two concentric tubes communicating with one another above only are filled with a liquid to a common level, Sparks from a Holtz At 5 ig ; al Nov. 20, 1879] : ae NATURE 73 machine are then passed across the intervening air, when it is found that the level rises at the negative and falls at the positive pole. There is, therefore, apparently an actual transport in the direction conventionally agreed upon as the direction of the current. M, Gernez is inclined to attribute this phenomenon to an electrical transport of the liquids along the moistened surfaces of the tubes, Pure alcohol distils over thus at a rate three times as great as that of water, but a mixture of alcohol and water in equal parts at a less rate than pure water. The rapidity of the distillation is increased by the addition of any soluble salt or of a few drops of sulphuric acid or of ammoniasolution. No appreci- able amount of distillation takes place with bisulphide of carbon, tetrachloride of carbon, or with turpentine. M, Gernez, however, does not think that there is any assignable relation between the conductivity of a liquid and its rate of electro-convective evapora- tion ; nor does he think that there is any necessary connection between this phenomenon and that discovered by Porret of the electric endosmose of liquids across diaphragms of various kinds, GEOGRAPHICAL NOTES * Ar the last meeting of the Russian Geographical Society, in the section of Physical Geography, M. Rylcke communicated the results of his precise measurements on the levels of the Baltic and of the Black Sea. These measurements were begun in 1877, by order of the General Staff, according to the resolutions of the Brussels Congress. Accurate measurements in the ports of the Baltic have proved undoubtedly that the level of the sea at Cronstadt is, by nearly two feet, higher than at Reval, and that its height decreases regularly from north to south, this conclusion being fully supported by Prussian measurements at Memel and at Kiel, For a comparison of the level of the Baltic with that of the Black Sea the necessary computations are not yet advanced enough to yield trustworthy results. In his last paper on the Agomes Islands (Zsvestia, 1879, p. 37) M. Miclucho-Maclay says that here he happened to determine the dimensions of the heads only of fourteen men, and that the so-called “index of the breadth” varied from 69°6 to 81°3; it was thus nearly the same as on the Taui Islands (70°5 to 845), where the traveller has done no less than 119 measurements, and does not much differ from what was seen of the Papuans of New Guinea, whose ‘‘ index” varies from 62°0 to 86°4. Accord- ing to this wide variation of the ‘‘indexes,” M. Maclay affirms that we have no right to describe the heads of Melanesians as well as those of the Papuans as dolichocephalic, but rather as mezocephalic ; and that the form of the head must not be con- sidered as a proof of a race-distinction between Negritoes and Papuans, as both Melanesians and Papuans display an obvious tendency to brachycephalism, whilst this last was formerly con- sidered as a distinctive feature of the Papuans from the natives of the Philippine Islands. He considers also that within the same races we shall always find both forms of heads, and that a true classification of human races cannot be established on this sole feature ; it must be based on a thorough study of the whole of the comparative anatomy. A few measurements on living subjects, however accurate, cannot give the necessary solid bases for a scientific classification. ACCORDING to a telegram received in Paris from Sierra Leone, two Frenchmen, MM. Zweifel and Moustier, have at length discovered the sources of the River Niger, a feat which has hitherto baffled all explorers, The party appear to have been recently instructed by their employer, M. Verminck, of Marseilles, to explore the Niger for both scientific and commer- cial purposes ; and accordingly, starting from Sierra Leone and following the course of the Kohelle, they reached the foot of the Kong Mountains, By adroit treatment of the hostile tribes at this point, where foreigners had always been refused passage, they were allowed to pass the mountains and explore the three “ia which, uniting after a short distance, form the River iger. BEFORE concluding his recent explorations in South America, Dr. Crevaux made two attempts to ascend the Iga or Putumayo tributary of the Amazon. Having failed the first time, he as- cended the main stream to Tabatings, on the frontier of Peru and Brazil, and then returned to Para. He there obtained means to enable him to carry out his original intention, and at the second attempt succeeded in ascending the Iga to Cnembe, to the north of Cotopaxi, on the frontier of Bolivia and Ecuador, Starting from this place on May 16, Dr. Crevaux reached the foot of the Andes in eight days. Thence continuing his route towards the north, he arrived at the sources of the Japura after sixteen hours’ march, After experiencinz great hardships, and hostility on the part of the natives, he reached the Amazon again on July 9, arriving at Para on July 24, He has brought back with him much information interesting alike from a geographical and ethnographical point of view, as well as a collection of plants, which are expected to prove useful as medicines. In publishing an interesting letter from its special correspon- dent with the Kussian expedition against the Tekke Turkomans, the Daily News states that the ‘* nature of the ground along the course of the Attrek from the Caspian Sea has never been accu- rately described from personal observation.” Without wishing to undervalue this and other letters from the same source, we may be permitted to point out that the ground had been previously examined by a party under General Llomakin, and that Sir Henry Rawlinson, in his paper on the ‘Road to Merv,” read before the Geographical Society on January 27, quoted at length from Russian newspapers a description of this very route by a member of the expedition, A summary of the letters, giving an account of this expedition, which had been addressed to the Moscow Gazetle, also appeared in NATURE, vol. xix. p. 271. A LETTER from Herr Hildebrandt, dated Nossibé (Mada- gascar), states that he has visited Keravi, where the unfortunate traveller, Dr, Chr. Rutenburg, was murdered some time ago, Hildebrandt erected a stone monument on the spot; the body, however, could not be found, in spite of the most assiduous inquiries, the murderers having thrown it into a mountain torrent. Hildebrandt has photographed the spot, and sends a copy to Bremen, accompanied by the last diary and steno- graphical notes of Rutenburg. THE Geographical Society of Algiers has nominated for its president M. MacCarthy, an explorer of the Algerian Sahara, who is settled in Algiers, and has been appointed librarian of the National Library of Algiers. This Society has been divided into three sections; Political Geography, Economical Geography, and Physical Geography. Tue Belgian African Society has received letters from Zanzi- bar, according to which MM. Popelin and Van der Henyel had arrived at Mpwapwa on August 15 and at Chunyu on September 2. They were to leave the latter place on September 3, and to penetrate into the Ugogo district, At Mpwapwa they met the elephant caravan led by Carter. Each elephant carried about 1ocwt. The march was performed most satisfactorily. In the districts where the tsetse flies abound, the animals were often covered by them without feeling any the worse for it. Only one elephant died through change of nourishment, the whole caravan being fed with what the country offered. M. Dutalis, who suffered from a severe attack of fever, has returned to Europe, THE Geographical Society of Munich has conferred the title of Honorary Members upon Prof. Nordenskjéld, Dr. Joseph Chavanne (Vienna), and Dr, Emil Holub (Prague). The recep- tion of the latter upon his return to Prague was most enthusiastic. He had been absent for over seven years, The Vienna Geo- graphical Society has elected the following gentlemen as Honorary Members :—Prof. Ujfalvy (Paris), General Kauffmann (Tashkend), Dr. E. Holub (Prague), and Prof. Arendts (Munich). The last- named geutleman has also been nominated Corresponding Member of the Paris Society for commercial geography. A GENERAL ‘‘ Geographentag’” will be called at Berlin during the summer of 1880. Its special object will be the con- sideration of plans for the formation of a great German ** Gesellschaft fiir Erdkunde.” The idea is not a new one, but projects for the new General Society have already been mooted upon several occasions, At the recent Karl Ritter celebration at Berlin, a commission” was appointed and charged with the working out of certain preliminaries referring to the subject. The commirsion is formed of Dr. Nachtigal (Berlin), Prof. Neumayer (Hamburg), Prof. Bruhns (Leipzig), Prof. Kein (Mar- burg), and Dr, Roth (Dresden) UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL INTELLIGENCE OxrorD.—In a congregation held on Tuesday, November 18, the amendments to the proposed statute to confer degrees in natural science were taken into consideration. The proposed statute made Greek an optional subject in the natural science 74 ——— curriculum. It appeared from counsel's opinion that the pro- posed degree would not carry with it the rights and privileges of the master of arts degree. On the latter ground opposition was made to the statute by a considerable portion of those engaged in teaching natural science at Oxford. Prof. Odling had issued a memorandum, extensively signed by residents interested in science, in which he had explained his reasons for opposing the statute. The statute, by completely separating the faculties of arts and natural science, would allow no honour student in one faculty to become an honour student in the other without beginning in the new faculty ad imitio ; and no honour student in the faculty of natural science could fall back, as at present, on the ordinary pass degree. The broader question of lowering the value of natural science degrees by putting them on a different footing from degrees in arts, was not discussed in congregation on Tuesday ; but Dr. Magrath’s amendment to reject the whole statute except the preamble, was passed by a vote of fifty-four against forty-eight. The whole subject will thus have to be rediscussed on a future occasion, The examination in the Honour School of Natural Science will commence next Monday, November 24. CAMBRIDGE.— The Cambridge women students add no unim- portant quota to the numbers in residence, numbering something lik 160 or 170 this term. At Girton College there are over fifty students, including about six of the first year who purpose studying natural science. They have a good chemical laboratory, under Miss Herschel’s superintendence, also a library which includes many valuable presents of books and apparatus. There are now eleven lecture- and class-rooms, and a good hospital and nurse’s room have been built, capable of being entirely detached from the rest of the College. Miss Tomlinson’s success in winning an entrance scholarship at the London School of Medicine for Women, and entering for the London Medical Examinations, will doubtless tend to show that a Cambridge course in science is no bad preparation for women as well as men before proceeding to medical degrees. The Newnham College Association will shortly have two houses of residence facing one another, together with a complete set of lecture-rooms and a chemical laboratory. There are eighty-two students in residence at Cambridge who have come for the lectures to women, besides about twenty who attend the lectures each term, being residents, school-mistresses, &c, Miss Lawrence, who gained marks equivalent to a second-class when informally examined in the last Natural Sciences Tripos, remains in residence, and demonstrates for the lady-students who attend Dr. Michael Foster’s and Mr, Balfour’s lectures. Mr, Vines’s lectures on Vegetable Physiology are open to ladies who obtain special permission. Mr. Freeman, of St. John’s College, has given to the Women’s Association a quantity of valuable electrical apparatus which will be used in giving instruction in experimental physics. Mr. R, T. Wright, on leaving Cambridge, resigns his active work for the Association as secretary, and pending the formation of the Newnham College Company, Miss M. G, Kennedy is appointed secretary to the Association for the remaining period of its existence. Nine scholarships have been awarded by the Associa- tion on the last higher local and other examinations, and over 7oo/. thus given or lent to students in one year. About 1,000/. has been paid to the Association during the year by students attending its lectures. As soon as the memorandum and articles of association of Newnham College are complete, a copy will be kept by Mrs. Bateson at St. John’s Lodge, for inspection by any member of the existing Association, A noteworthy entertainment of the British Medical Asso- ciation by Cambridge University, town, and county, may be expected next August, when Prof. Humphry will preside. The president’s position will be very conspicuous, for he is now, by Mr, Lestourgeon’s retirement, senior surgeon and clinical lecturer on surgery to the Cambridge (Addenbrooke’s) Hospital and Medi- cal School, as well as professor of anatomy. A public meeting was held on Friday, the 14th, in the Cambridge Guildhall, at 2.30, under the presidency of the Vice-Chancellor (Dr, E. H. Perowne, Master of Corpus Christi College), when Dr. Humphry made a statement of the objects of the Association and the pro- posed arrangements for the meeting. His son, Mr. A, P, Hum- phry, one of the Esquire Bedells, is honorary secretary of the Local Executive Committee. Most probably at least a thousand members will attend the meeting. Dr. Michael Foster will deliver the address in Physiology, and Mr, Timothy Holmes that on Surgery. Dr. Paget, Regius Professor of Medicine, will pre- NATURE |[Mov, 20, 1879 side over the section of Medicine, he having been president of the Association itself when it last met in Cambridge; and Sir James Paget wil] be president of the newly constituted section of Pathology. Dr. J. B. Bradbury is to deliver the address in medicine at the meeting; he holds the Linacre Lectureship, delivering lectures on pathology, is medical lecturer of Gonville and Caius College, and one of the physicians to Addenbrooke’s Hospital, and took a distinguished position in the Cambridge Natural Sciences Tripos. Mr. G. B. Atkinson, Trinity Hall, Cambridge, has been appointed secretary of honour examinations. We are glad to learn that mathematics and geology are now studied by more students who enter the Cambridge Higher Local Examinations. In the examination in mathematics in June, the candidates showed better style and appreciation of mathematical ideas. All the subjects gain favourable reports, and in astro- nomy one candidate did remarkably well. The work in the differential and integral calculus was good, the introduction of this paper having been successful. In botany there was much guesswork and little evidence of histological work by candidates. One of the candidates, placed first in zoology, sent up admirable work in botany. Some candidates did very well in practical chemistry. The examiner’s report on physiology, now first introduced as a separate subject, is on the whole favourable ; only one set of papers on physics was sent up. In 1879, Group C (Mathematics) had 60 candidates, of whom 19 failed and $ obtained a first class; in Group E, 73, of whom 35 failed and 4 obtained a first class. The Report of the Board of Natural Sciences Studies, which we referred to last week, was rejected by 46 to 26 votes. Prof. Paget and Mr. Bettany issued a fly-sheet complaining that the subjects of examination were now too numerous and extensive ; encouraging candidates to an injurious amount of memory-work in attaining ‘‘general knowledge and proficiency ;” and that there should now be a Biological anda Physical Tripos. Mr. Sedley Taylor and Mr. Vines, as well as Prof. Dewar and Mr. Balfour, object to the advance of human anatomy to so con- spicnous a place in the Tripos Dr, Humphry considers the recognition of human anatomy in the Tripos not greater than it deserves. However, he would now prefer a ‘‘ Medical Tripos.” ». SCIENTIFIC SERIALS Sournal of Anatomy and Physiology, Normal and Patho- logical, vol. xiv. part i., October.—Drs, Gibson and Malet, on a pre-sternal fissure, uncovering the base of the heart, pl. 1. —Dr. W. Ostler, case of congenital and progressive hypertrophy of the right upper extremity.—Prof, Flower and Dr. Garson, the scapular index as a race character in man.—Dr, W. Allen, the varieties of the atlas in the human subject and the homo- logues of its transverse processes, pl. 2,—Prof, Cleland, note on the foregoing.—Dr. Creighton, the infection of the connective tissue in scirrhous cancers of the breast.—Dr. Watson, the homology of the sexual organs, illustrated by comparative anatomy and pathology.—Prof. Bridge, on the pori abdominales of vertebrata.—Prof, Turner, on the pori abdominales in some sharks. —Prof. Turner, a description of a cleft sternum,—Dr. J. Barlow, the physiological action of ozonised air.—Prof, Charles, on the mode of propagation of nervous impulses.—Dr, Cook, on a logwood staining solution.—Dr, Dobson, case of the develop- ment of hair on the eyeball of a dog.—Dr. Osler, on Giacomini’s method of preserving the brain.—Anatomical notes, THE recent numbers of the Scottish Naturalist, which has now been in existence for nine years, show no falling off from the interest of the earlier ones. In addition to the descriptive papers and lists of localities in the various departments of natural his- tory, we find in the last number a paper on the Gaelic names of plants, one on the effects of the past winter and present summer on hard-wooded plants, and one on the auriferous quartz of Wanlockhead. The list of Scottish insects by experts in the various sections of entomology is still continued in each number, The number for October contains an appreciative notice of the late excellent naturalist, Sir Thomas Monereiff, Bart., president of the Perthshire Society of Natural Science. Royal Society of Tasmania, Papers {and Proceedings ef, jor 1877.—Hobart Town, 1878.—Among the more important papers are the following:—F. W. Hutton, on some South Australian Polyzoa (describes several new species from the shores of St. Vincent’s Gult).—Rev. J. E. T. Wood, census, with brief descriptions of the marine shells of Tasmania and the adjacent Nov. 20, 1879] islands.—Rev. W. W. Spicer, on alien plants.—Rev. J. E. T. Woods, on Australian Siphonaria (describes a new species, S. zonata).—M. Allport, on the present stage of the salmon experi- ment (November 12, 1877).—Baron Ferd. von Mueller, contri- butions to the phytography of Tasmania, in which he adds a few more plants to his previous enumeration and effects a few changes in nomenclature; there is added a note on Phyllota (Pultenaca) diffusa,-Rev. J. E. T. Woods, on some new Tas- manian marine shells (describes several new species).—The meteorology of Hobart Town, January to December, 1877. In January apricots and Jargonelle pears were ripe, the general apple and pear crop in February. Leaves commenced to fall in March ; the chrysanthemums were in flower in April ; Lachenalia and Photinia in May; crocuses and Pyrus japonica in June ; almonds in full bloom in July; trees breaking into leaf in August; horse chestnut in flower in September; mulberry and lime trees in leaf in October; cherries and strawberries ripe in November ; currants and gooseberries in December. Morphologisches ‘Fahrbuch, Band 5, Heft 3.—Dr. G. Born, on the nasal cavity and tear passages in the amniotic vertebrates, pls. 23-24.—L. Graff, on Geonemertes chalicophora, a new land Nemertine, pl. 25-27. This new species was found in the earth of a flower-pot in the palm-house at Frankfurt. The larger specimens were 12 mm, in length and $ mm. in breadth; they are of a milk-white colour, A list of the land nemertines now known is appended, these being the original species of the genus described by Semper, G. falensis, and Tétrastemma agricola, of Willemoes-Suhm.—M. v. Davidoff, on the comparative anatomy of the posterior limbs in fishes, pl. 28-31, to which is appended a note by the editor, Prof. Gegenbaur, on the limb question,.— Notice of Schneider’s ‘** Comparative Anatomy.” Sournal of the Russian Chemical and Physical Society,—The last number of this journal contains a paper by Prof, Butleroff, on the present meaning of the chemical theory.—The conclusion of the researches, by M. Lebavin, on the nucleine of milk.— On derivates of the fumaric and maleic acids, by M. Ossipoff.— On cholécamphoric acid, by M. Latchinoffi—On a new alkali derived from quinine, by MM. Wischnegradsky and Prof. Butleroff.—On the theory of dispersion of light, by M. Cheboueff. F SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES LonDOoN Mathematical Society, November 13.—Mr. C. W. Merri- field, F.R.S., president, in the chair.—The treasurer’s and secretaries’ reports were read.—The new council was elected, the only changes in which were the substitution of Messrs, Leudesdorf and Lloyd Tanner, in the place of Dr. Spottis- woode, P.R.S., and Prof. H.¥J. S. Smith, F.R.S., the retiring Members,—The Chairman briefly, but in feeling terms, alluded to the losses the Society had recently sustained by the deaths of such accomplished mathematicians as Prof, Clifford, Sir J. G. Shaw Lefevre, and Prof, J. Clerk Maxwell. —The following communications were made to the Society :— (1) On the binomial equation +f — 1 = 0, trisection and quarti- section, Prof. Cayley, F.R.S.—(2) On cubic determinants and other determinants of higher class, and on determinants of alternate numbers, Mr. R. F. Scott.—(3) On a problem of Fibonacci’s, Mr. S. Roberts, F.R.S.—(4) Notes on a class of definite integrals, Mr. T. R. Terry. (1) was principally concerned with the presentation in a simplified form of results siven in Reuschle’s ‘‘ Tafeln complexer Primzahlen welche aus Wurzeln der Einheit gebildet sind” (4to, Berlin, 1875), and in Jacobi’s’‘* Canon Arithmeticus ” (4to, Berlin, 1839). (2) was on a branch of determinants which has received but little attention in this country. Mr. Lloyd Tanner communicated a paper on the subject to the Society at its June meeting in the present year, Amongst Continental papers are memoirs by Armenante, Padova, and Garbieri (in the Giornale di Matematiche), Dahlander and A. de Gasparis. (3) was an account and extension of work done _ in the Diophantine Analysis by Fibonacci, and recently by Genocchi. (4) The integrals considered were hy cos4 xd x aaa ie sint4x dx o(I — 2acosx + x)” o(I — 2acosx + art?’ where 7 is a positive integer and 7 any real quantity, positive cr negative, integral or fractional. NATURE Gis 75. Geological Society, November 5.—Henry: Clifton Sorby, F.R.S., president, in the chair.—Henry Bruce Armstrong was elected a Fellow of the Society.—The following communications were read:—On the probable temperature of the primordial ocean of our globe, by Robert Mallet, F.R.S. According to the latest hypotheses as to the quantity of water on the globe, its pressure, if evenly distributed, would be equal to a barometric pressure of 204°74 atmospheres. Accordingly water, when first it began to condense on the surface of the globe, would condense at a much higher temperature than the present boiling-point, under ordinary circumstances. The first drops of water formed on the cooling surface of the globe may not impossibly have been at the temperature of molten iron. As the water was precipi- tated, condensation of the remaining vapour took place at a lower temperature. The primordial atmosphere would be more oblate and less penetrable by solar heat than the present, and the difference of temperature between polar and equatorial re- gions would be greater; so that, in the later geologic times, ice may have formed in the one, while the other was too hot for animal or vegetable life. Thus, formerly the ocean would be a more powerful disintegrant and solvent of rocks, mineral changes would be more rapid, and meteoric agencies would preduce greater effects in a given time.—On the fish-remains found in the cannel coal in the middle coal-measures of the West Riding of Yorkshire, with the description of some new species, by James W. Davis, F.G.S.—On the skull of Argillornis longipennts, Owen, by Prof. R. Owen, C.B., F.R.S. In this paper the author described a fragmentary cranium from the London clay of Sheppey, from which it was procured by Mr. W. H. Shrub- sole, who also furnished him with the humerus described in a former paper under the name of Argillornis longipennis.1 In the present specimen the lower jaw and the fore-part of the upper jaw are deficient. The author described the characters presented by the specimen in detail, and stated that, like those of the humerus previously described, they seemed to approximate the fossil most nearly to the albatross among existing birds, although, like Odontopteryx, it differed from Diomedea and also from the cormorant and the totipalmates generally, in the ab- sence of the basirostral external nares and of the supraorbital gland-pits. The present fossil differs from Odontopteryx in having the fore-part of the frontal broader and the upper tract of the bill less defined, as also in some other characters; but no comparison of the palatal structure can be made upon the exist- ing specimens. In point of size, taking the albatross as a term of comparison, this skull may-well have belonged to a bird with wings of the extent indicated by the humerus already described ; and the resemblance of the skull to that of the albatross would also seem to be confirmatory of the specific collocation of the two specimens, The presence of four small pits or perforations on the only part of the alveolar border which appears to be uninjured, leads the author to conjecture that the bird may have been dentigerous. Physical Society, November 8.—Prof. W. G. Adams in the chair.—The first paper read was on an analogy between the conductivity for heat and the induction balance effect of copper- tin alloys, by W. Chandler Roberts, F.R.S. Mr. Roberts traced a remarkable resemblance between a curve representing the induction balance effect of the copper-tin alloys published by him in June last, and the curve of Calvert and Johnson for the conductivity of heat, and on the other hand he showed that the induction curve does not agree with Matthiessen’s curve for the electric conductivity of the same alloys. The author showed that the two alloys which occupy critical points of the curve (SnCu, and SnCu,) are of much interest. Possibly both are chemical combinations, and the wide difference in the position they occupy probably marks a difference of allotropic sta‘e. For the solution of such questions, however, Mr. Roberts con- sidered that we might look with confidence to Prof. Hughes’ beautiful instrument, which, he hopes, will also help us to determine whether the relation between conductivity for heat and electricity is really as exact as it has hitherto been supposed to be. As supplementary to this subject Dr. O. J. Lodge stated that he had compared the conductivity of six bars of the tin- copper alloys, as measured by the balance and by the W heatstone- bridge, and found them to agree very closely. The bridge results confirmed the resemblance traced by Mr. Roberts. Prof. Hughes expressed his opinion that existing tables of conductivity were erroneous, They disagreed among themselves 1 Quart. Yourn. Geol, Soc., vol. xxxiv. p. 124. 76 NATURE [WVov. 20, 1879 and the induction-balance showed that it was difficult to get two pieces of the same metal exactly alike; hence the variation of specific conductivity results.—Prof. Ayrton stated that at a former meeting he had suggested that the electric inertia of the different speciuens of metal tested might cause the difference between the results obtained by the Wheatstone Bridge and the induction-balance. Calculation had since led him to the conclu- sion that the inductive effect is not proportional to the resistance of the metal tested, but to an expression in which the resistance is an exponential. Prof, Hughes replied that as the inductive effect of the metal was destroyed by cutting it so as to interrupt the circuit in it, it was reasonable to suppose that the said effect was due to induced currents circulating in the metal, and there- fore was proportional to the conductivity of the metal.—Capt. Armstrong exhibited a standard Daniell cell formed of a porce- lain vessel with a porous partition dividing it into two compart- ments. In one the zinc plate was immersed in a solution of sulphate of zinc, in the other the copper-plate in a solution of sulphate of copper. To use the cell as a standard, it was only necessary to connect the two liquids by a cotton string moistened with water. This arrangement prevented mixing of the liquids, as the string could be withdrawn after use. The resistance was high, but it was a constant standard of electromotive force.— Prof, Guthrie mentioned that Prof, Pirani, of Melbourne, in a letter‘to him had pointed to the fact that when a dilute acid was being electrolysed, the positive electrode, if made of iror, became incandescent below the surface of the liquid. Prof. Guthrie had found this to be true not only for iron but for other metals, and that it could hardly be due to oxidation, because it took place not only at the cathode or positive electrode, where oxygen was evolved, but also at the anode where hydrogen was - evolved. The incandescence appeared to him to be due to resistance. The ,author.exhibited certain experimental results, The positive electrode when immersed in the electrolyte was seen to get red hot and to vibrate rapidly. As the liquid heated the red glow became fainter. The negative electrode, on the other hand, emitted a bright light, accompanied by a noise. The light was tinged with the characteristic colour of the flame of the metal of which it was composed; in the case of a copper electrode, for example, it was greenish. These effects were shown by Prof, Guthrie with iron, copper, and platinum electrodes, in dilute sulphuric and dilute nitric acid. In reply to Prof. Adams, Prof. Guthrie said he had not yet examined the flame by the spectroscope; and in reply to Prof. Foster he stated that the battery power used was fifty Grove’s cells, He asked for suggestions as to the cause of the pheno- menon, Paris Academy of Sciences, November 10.—M. Daubrée in the chair,—M. de Lesseps stated that a corps for boring operations had been sent out to Panama, and he was going out ina month with a commission of selected engineers of various countries. He applied for a committee to formulate a programme of observa- tions that might be useful to science. —Climatological conditions of the years 1869 to 1879 in Normandy, and their influence on ripening of the crops (first note), by M. Mangon. ‘The observations were made at Saint-Marie-du-Mont (Manche), a few kilometres from the sea, The exceptional character of 1879 in temperature and rainfall is shown by numerical data (the relation to the crops being reserved for another paper).—On a new species of the genus Anomalurus, by M. Milne Edwards. The animal was in a collection formed at the Gaboon, by M. Leglaize. It is remark- able for its beauty of colours, and the author calls it 4. ery- thronotus. It is like A. fraseri in general proportions, but is easily distinguished. The discovery raises to six the number of representatives of Anomalurus ; all belong to the west of tropical Africa.—On the presence, in surface layers of the ground, of fecundated winter-eggs of phylloxera, by M. Boiteau.—On the results of treatment of phylloxerised vines with sulpho-carbonate of potash, and on the mode of use of this agent, by M. Mouillefert. —The satellites of Mars in 1879, by Mr. Hall.—Determination of the figure of apparent repose of an inexteusible cord in motion in space; conditions necessary for its production, by M. Léauté. —On the thermal absorbent and emissive power of flames, and on the temperature of the voltaic arc, by M. Rossetti. For o’or m. of any flame traversed by radiation from a flame of the same nature, the coefficients of transparence and of absorption are represented, respectively, by 0°865 and 0°135 m. A thickness of 1m. renders a flame almost completely athermanous for rays from another like flame. The absolute thermal emissive power of white gas flames (or the intensity of radiation of such flames of indefinite thickness, compared with that of soot at a temperature equal to the mean temperature of the flame), is equal to unity; that of a Bunsen flame 0°3219. A large number of experiments gives about 3900 C, as the maximum temperature of the positive polar carbon extremity, and 3150° for the negative; for the voltaic are, between these, a temperature of about 4800° (with any intensity of current or thickness of arc),—Researches on the passivity of iron, by M. Varenne. Fuming nitric acid does not act on iron arid render it passive, so that it is not attacked by dilute nitric acid. The author describes various experiments throwiny light on the case. It appears that any agitation in the neighbourhood of the passive metal, whether by a shock or a vibration, or by a current of gas (very weak it may be) as from spongy platinum placed at the bottom of the vessel of dilute acid, in which the passive iron is hung, abolishes the passivity. The gaseous sheath formed on the iron seems to be the obstacle to attack, It is more adherent on a smooth surface, and on a specimen of great molecular condensation than on one rugous and less compact. J» vacuo the sheath, and with it the passivity, disappear.—On alcoholic fermentation, by M. Cochin. He concludes from experiment that yeast does not produce a soluble alcoholic ferment.—Com- plementary note on calcination uf the vivasses (or spent-wash) of beetroot, by M. C. Vincent. A reply to MM. Duvillier and Buisine.—On the organisation and the cellular form in certain kinds of mosses (Dicranum and Dicranella), by M. Heckel,—On the resistance of sheep of Barbarine race to inocu- lation with charbon, by M. Ollive. He affirms the generality of this character. During the eight years he has lived in Mogador he has never met with any case of the disease.—On the rhythmic excitability of the muscles and their comparison’ with the heart, by M. Richet. For the heart, as for the muscle of a claw of the cray-fish, contraction (systole) exhausts the muscular element, which then ceases to contract ; but it is restored very quickly, and it is during the period of exhaustion (diastole) that the reparation takes place. The cause of rhythm is the same in both heart and muscle—rapid exhaustion and rapid reparation,— Comparison of the action of various curares on the smooth and striated muscles, by M. De Lacerda. They differ in intensity of action on these muscles, not in the nature of the action.—On medullary osseous abscesses, by Dr. Chassargnac.—M. L presented Dr. Bateman’s work on Darwinism demonstrated by language, and gave an afer¢u of it.—M. Chasles presented (from Prince Boncompagni) a photolithographed copy of a long letter from Gauss to Mdlle. Sophie Germain, a student of the -eole Polytechnique. CONTENTS THE DOUBLE STARS §5) «. 6) « » 0 yey of es &\¢ 9 6 se & » 5S Our Book SHELF :—= . Benson’s “‘ Saidapet Experimental Farm Manual and Guide.”— Post’s ‘‘ Grundriss der chemischen Technologie’? . . . . « « « a Lerrers To THE EpiToR:— The November Meteors.—Rev. S. J. Perry, F.R.S. . . . « « 55 The Platysomid Fishes.—R. H. TraquatR. . . . 2 « © «© « 55 Voice in Fish.—S. EB. ‘PEAL ©. 5 tl) s is oe) ae le Panett Silurian Fossils in the ‘* Lower Old Red Sandstone” of the Curlew Mountain District.—G. Henry KINAHAN . . «© © « « «© «© 55 The Paces of the Horse.—Sir W. G. Stmpson, Bart.. . . . . » 53 A Curious Rainbow.—J. B. Hannay (With Illustration)... . 56 How Snakes shed the Skin.—Samuet Lockwoop . .. .. »« 56 The ‘‘ Hexameter,” Maca dda1¢ ayaly...—J. J. WALKER « « « 57 Tue SwepisH NortrH-East PassacE FxpgpITION . . « + « « = 57 GALILEO AND THE APPLICATION OF MATHEMATICS To Puysics, II. By Wiiitam Jack, M.A.; LL.D., F.R.S.E. | «.. «0. =) «kn ella Wuo was Prince Atumayv? By A. H. Keanz. . «© « « « «© s OF Cotour-VisioN AND CoLour-BLinpDNEss. By Prof. J. D. Everett, FURS. 0S he, 0 6. ov late < \ongie any Ryetir a ital ay tens ener Some OxpsgeRVATIONS ON FLeEuss’s New Process oF DIVING AND Sy REMAINING UNDER WATER. By Dr. BenJAMIN WARD RICHARDSON, E.R.S. (With, Diagrams), 2 sxhim, bee's le > lene New Guinga (With Jilustrations) . . « < «© 6 « +» «© 0 2 «© » 64 VERTICAL SHAFTS IN THE CHALK IN Kent. By F, C. SpuRRELL« . 67 Pror. Gerkie on THE Georocy oF THE Far WesT . « + + © + « 67 Nores . < @ é .0 as ee Berk feline alien apenas Peel fo ale Wiam of ental Our Asrronomicat CoLuUMN:— The Biela Comet Meteors . . « © © © = * © © © + © © © JE A New Nebula. . . « 5 Set eh ee se lie) o eM The Savellitesiof Mars. 5s «me spe = © © = 0) 5 & Ys . 92 PauvsicaL NOTES” Japa seo a Peds fete el > .s,,e “e, iuenamrennnen GusocrarnicaL NOTES.” = "ects Sets) © 06 8 2 fe own 7S University anD EpucaTIONAL INTELLIGENCE « + «© + + © «© © 73 SciantTiric' SERIALS Sila es 6 = © ovianmrpey lone faite beheaus) 7m SociErtes AND ACADEMIES. . «© + + © © © ¢ © © #© © «© «© # 75 NATURE af THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 27, 1879 THE SACRED BOOKS OF THE EAST The Sacred Books of the East. "Translated by various Oriental Scholars, and Edited by F. Max Miller. Vol. I. The Upanishads, Translated by F. Max Miller. Vol. Il. The Sacred Laws of the Aryas, Translated by Georg Buhler. Vol. IIL The Sacred Books of China, Translated by James Legge. (Oxford; The Clarendon Press, 1879.) HE series of volumes, of which the first three have just been issued simultaneously, under the able editorship of Prof. Max Miiller, are a very significant sign of our age. Their object is none other than to give to the public the sacred books of the historical religions of the world, translated into English by the best living scholars, without praise or disparagement, and with no reference to theological controversies or the needs of missionary zeal. The translations aim at being exact and faithful representations of the originals, so far as this is possible, and they are published in the interests of science, not of religious dogma. It is intended that the scientific student of religion should possess in them trust- worthy materials on which to found his generalisations and build his conclusions. The fact that such a work should appeal to a large public is not so remarkable as the further fact that it has been published at the expense of a university once supposed to be the stronghold of a narrow orthodoxy. It is difficult to realise that the days are not long past when the very conception of a scientific treatment of religion would have been regarded either with horror or with indifference. The religious world would have none of it; the fashionable world associated science with bones and machinery. The task of translating or of reading the sacred books of other peoples was left to a few zealots bent on destroying the Christianity of modern Europe, or a small band of scholars whose labours were almost unknown beyond the privacy of the study. In many cases, indeed, translation in the true sense of the word was impossible ; scientific philology had not yet explained the meaning of half-forgotten Eastern tongues, literary and historical criticism was still seeking its canons, and the wildest notions passed muster as to the antiquity of Oriental books. The mutilated and misunderstood frag- ments of Hindu or Chinese texts paraded before the reading public were travestied on behalf, now of a tradi- tional orthodoxy, now of an irrational denial of the popular faith. The filthy and absurd rites of later Hinduism were made to subserve the cause of the apologist, while his antagonist retorted with moral excerpts to which a fabulous age was assigned or painted an ideal portrait of Confucius and his doctrines. Thanks to the application of the scientific method to the study of language, of history, and of society, we can now examine the historical religions of mankind calmly and dispassionately, can estimate their relative influence and importance, can trace their origin and subsequent development. We have learned the great doctrine of historical evolution, The mind of man does not move by fits and starts any more than external nature ; it is con- VoL, xx1.—No. 526 ditioned by the circumstances surrounding it, and slowly grows to a ripe maturity. The various forms in which the religious emotions of man have clothed themselves, the various dogmas into which they have been crystal- lised, result from causes which can be discovered by careful research, The words in which they have been expressed lie like fossils in the strata of society revealing to the comparative philologist the ideas that prevailed at the time they were first coined or at the successive periods when their meaning was modified. Doctrine must neces- sarily develop because the mind of man develops, con- tinually gaining new ideas and new points of view and recasting those of a past generation. The history of doctrine may be read in the sacred books of a religion and the mode in which they have been interpreted. We see the words of the text gradually becoming fixed and sacred, and then taking upon them strange senses coloured by the beliefs and ideas of a later day. The simple utterances of an Aryan poet came to be regarded as the awful commands of the Almighty, and to constitute an infallible and irresponsible text-book of life and morals, of law and learning. The relation of a religion, however, to its Bible may be twofold. It may have had an individual founder like the Buddha or Zoroaster, or Mohammed, and then the authority of the founder overrides that of the sacred book which derives its force and sanctity from him; or it may be the slow growth of time and circumstances, moulded, as in the case of Brahmanism, by a powerful priesthood, whose influence and dogmatic system rest entirely on the divine authority with which they have been able to invest their sacred scriptures. In the latter case a far stricter and more uncompromising theory of inspiration is neces- sary than in the former. To impugn a single jot or tittle of the canon is to overthrow the very foundations of the faith. * It will be a long while before the science of religion can do more than collect its facts and lay down a few broad and more or less provisional generalisations. Only when we know the way in which each of the historical religions of the world has been born and grown up, shall we be able to compare them with one another and with the unorganised religions of barbarous tribes. It has yet to be seen whether the different races of mankind have started with the same stock of religious ideas and followed similar courses of development, or whether, as has some- times been asserted, each race has its own religion as peculiar and appropriate to itself as the colour of its skin or the character of its hair. If we may argue from the analogy of language the assertion is likely to turn out a false one. The question of the origin of unrevealed religion cannot, of course, be answered by the study of sacred books. The early struggles of religion to clothe itself in articulate utterance lie too far behind the age of organised faith when a canon first becomes possible. An uncivilised people cannot have a Bible. It may be brought to them by others, but if so, civilisation is brought with it. To determine whether fetishism, or animism or any other “ism’’ was the primitive form of religion, we must look to other evidences than those presented by sacred books. Sacred books are the records of historical religions only. But it is with these records that the student of religion E 78 NATURE [Vov. 27, 1879 must begin, rather than with the fragmentary and un- certain relics of older phases of faith. In his introduction to the first volume, Prof. Max Miiller offers some useful words of warning to those who approach the study of these old texts with exaggerated ideas of Eastern wisdom and profundity. “ By theside of so much that is fresh, natural, simple, beautiful, and true,’ there is “much that is not only unmeaning, artificial, and silly, but even hideous and repellent.” The extracts culled from them by popular writers, in order to illustrate the exalted character of ancient thought, too frequently stand by the side of other passages which painfully recall the infirmities of human nature. Mankind has worked its way but slowly to its present level of knowledge and enlightenment, and the mixed character of these ancient books may serve to remind us that we, too, have our infirmities and im- perfections which will seem as strange to a future generation as those of Eastern sages doto us. Man is the creature of his age, and the best and wisest among us cannot escape from the influences that surround us, and the limitations imposed by the knowledge and prejudices of our own day. These translations will be useful in dispelling another illusion which the enthusiastic pioneers into the realm of Oriental religion have occasioned. They are as faithful and accurate as the present state of philological science allows, and the reader will, therefore, miss the modern ideas that have too often been read into passages quoted from the sacred books of the East. By changing a word here, and inserting a word there, by assimilating the expressions of the original to the familiar language of our own Scriptures, a false impression of the character of these old books has not unfrequently been produced. The Upanishads, with which the series of translations opens may be described as the text-books of sacred Hindu philosophy. They preceded the era of the Sutras, or grammatical treatises on the Veda, the beginning of which may be roughly placed about 600 B.C., and form part of that of the Brahmanas or Vedic commentaries. They embody the traditional doctrines of the Brahmans regard- ing the highest objects of human interest and inquiry, and in many cases may be shown to have been incor- porated into a Brahmana. They aim at ascertaining the mystic sense of the Veda, and so lay the foundation of the later Hindu metaphysical systems. At the same time they are not exclusively Brahmanical ; on the contrary, they seem composed rather in the interest of the Kshatriya Kings than of the priestly Brahmans. About 150 of them exist, partly in prose, partly in verse, out of which Prof. Max Miiller has selected five of the Most important to place before the English reader. It must be remembered that, like the Brahmanas, the Upa®!Shads form part of the inspired Hindu Canon. The sacred laws of the Hindus, as taught in the schools of Apastamba and Gautama, occupy the second volume of the series. They belong to the Stitra period of Indian literature, and we have not to read them long to discover the tyrannically Brahman spirit which they breathe. Dr. Biihler considers that the Gautama Dharmasastra is in the main the oldest of existing works on sacred Hindu law. He further places Apastamba at latest in the fourth or fifth century B.c, A translation of the laws taught in the schools of Vasishtha and Baudhayana will follow in another volume. The third volume contains Dr. Légge’s translations of the texts of Confucianism, the Shi King, the Shih King, and the Hsido King. The Shi King is a collection of historical records, beginning with the reign of YAo in the twenty-fourth century B.C.,and coming down to that of Hsiang B.c. 961. The Shih King or Book of Poetry consists of 305 ancient poems, five of which belong to the time of the Shang dynasty (B.C. 1766-1123), and the rest to that of the dynasty of Chau (B.c. 1123-586). Its philological and literary value is naturally very great. The short treatise known as the Hsido King, or classic of filial piety, is regarded by Dr. Legge as containing a Confucian element, but mostly composed in the first century before our era. Astronomical and other reasons on the other hand, dispose him to accept the antiquity claimed by the Shii and the Shih. Prof. Max Miiller may be congratulated on the success- ful commencement of his great undertaking. The pub- lication of other sacred texts, including the Koran, the works of Lao-tse, and selected portions of the Buddhist and Zoroastrian Scriptures, are expected soon to follow. For obvious reasons, however, the sacred books of ancient Egypt and Babylonia, of which we now possess consider- able fragments, have been excluded from the series. The Book of the Dead, the most important part of the Egyptian Canon, will be independently issued before long in a revised text and revised translation, while we must wait for future excavations to complete the mutilated hymns of early Chaldea, a portion only of which is at present in our hands. For many years yet we shall have to be content with collecting and preparing the materials that others will use, with sowing the seed which another generation will harvest. We have, indeed, come to realise that there is a science of religion, but it will necessarily be long before the science has passed out of its firs classificatory stage. A. H. SAYCE MODERN CHROMATICS Modern Chromatics, with Applications to Art and In- dustry. By Ogden N. Rood. International Science Series. (London: C. Kegan Paul and Co., 1879.) N Sir Charles Eastlake’s preface to his translation of Goethe’s “‘ Theory of Colours,’’ he took occasion to pronounce against the accepted theory of Newton (that white light consists of coloured lights compounded together), in the following sentences :— “Tt must be admitted that the statements of Goethe contain more useful principles in all that relates to the harmony of colour than any that have been derived from the established doctrine. It is no derogation of the more important truths of the Newtonian theory to say that the views it contains seldom appear in a form calculated for direct application to the arts.”’ Since the time of Sir Charles Eastlake, however, great strides have been made in the theory of colour. The work of Prof. Rood new before us is the latest contribu- tion to this branch of science; and in dealing with “ Modern Chromatics,’ the author has brought to bear not merely a profound acquaintance with the work of all recent scientific writers on colour-theory, but also an inti- mate knowledge of the artistic and decorative functions ——————— Nov. 27, 1879] of colour. The reproach laid against the true colour- theory of Newton that it was less fruitful for artistic ends than the false theory of Goethe, is impossible in the face of such modern works as those of Chevreul, Field, Helm- holtz, Briicke, and von Bezold. And now Prof. Rood’s new work will be welcomed as an addition to the literature of the subject. The first two chapters are devoted to the general laws of light, and of its dispersion by refraction and by diffrac- tion. Then comes a chapter on the three “constants” of colour, purity, luminosity, and hue, the term luminosity being employed, not as artists sometimes employ it to describe a particular “effect” of light and shade in a picture, but as the equivalent of the measurable intensity or brightness of the light. The author avoids the term “intensity” in this sense, that it may not be confounded with the term ‘‘saturation,’’ a quality of colour which depends upon both purity and luminosity, and which is also sometimes erroneously spoken of as the “ intensity ” of a colour. The four following sections deal with the production of colour by interference and polarisation, by turbid media, by fluorescence and phosphorescence, and by absorption, The last of these chapters is very care- fully written, and contains spectroscopic diagrams of a number of absorbing media. Their bearing upon the all- important question of the tint transmitted by two coloured media jointly is clearly explained. The remaining chapters are devoted to Young’s Theory, Mixture of Colours, Complementary Colours, Colour Systems, &c. A concluding chapter deals with Painting and Decora- tion. Following von Bezold, Prof. Rood rejects the term “indigo” introduced by Newton into the classification of the spectrum colours, and describes the colours between green and violet as d/ue-green, cyan-blue, blue, and violet- blue. The spectrum line F stands between “ cyan-blue”’ and ‘‘blue,’’ while “‘violet-blue’’ begins about half-way between F and G, and ends a little beyond the latter line. This classification differs slightly from that of Listing. A detailed account is given of Maxwell’s Theory of Colours, of the experiments by which he arrived at his results, and of the colour-chart devised by him. It is unfortunate, however, that the author has divided his excellent remarks on this head, giving part in an appendix to Chapter VIII., part in another appendix to Chapter XIV., and the elementary explanation of the method of balancing the colours upon p. 219 of the text. Apart from this awkward arrangement the matter is admirably put ; and is the best exposition of Maxwell’s theory in the language. Indeed it is singular that most English text- books ignore Maxwell’s work in this department. In the English edition of Deschanel’s “ Natural Philosophy,” which is almost the only one which touches the matter at all, the brief paragraph in which the theory is dealt with lacks the perspicacity that mostly distinguishes that well- known work. There are one or two sentences in the work which cannot command our assent ; and should be revised when another edition is called for. Thus, on p. 86, we are told that Becquerel and other earlier experimenters succeeded in obtaining fleeting photographs of the colours of the spectrum, but that ‘‘the colours thus obtained are pro- duced merely by the zvéerference of light.’ And again, NATURE a 79 “In blue eyes there is no real blue colouring matter af all” (p. 58). On p. 94 the author claims as his own an experiment described originally in this country by T. Rose, the inventor of the kalotrope. A reference is given on p. 82 to the darkening of tint of water when heated, due to increased absorption: but the author makes no reference whatever to the important observations of Gladstone, Hartley, and Ackroyd on the similar changes which take place in almost all coloured bodies when heated; nor to the significant observation of the last- named experimenter, that with increasing temperature the absorption appears to increase most in the blue end of the spectrum in the case of those solid bodies of fixed composition which expand with a rise of temperature, while it increases most at the red end for those few bodies such as iodide of silver which contract with a rise of temperature. NHering’s theory of colours deserves a more extended notice than the very short note given in the final appendix. A brief account is given on p. 83 of a simple means devised by Simmler for observing the red rays which are abundantly reflected by green leaves: a thick plate of blue cobalt glass in conjunction with a plate of yellow glass serving to cut off all rays except the red and the blue-green. The writer of this notice independ- ently described some few years ago a similar device, in which by taking a solution of permanganate of potash in a glass tank of a convenient size, the blue, green, and yellow rays were similarly absorbed, allowing only red and violet bands to pass, thus constituting, like Simmler’s double plate, an erythroscope. The portions of Prof. Rood’s book which bear upon artists’? work are numerous, and his observations are of importance. There is, for example, a careful discussion of the change of visible tint suffered by coloured surfaces under diminished illumination ; and a parallel discussion of the results obtained by mixing pigments with a propor- tion of black. A list is given of those pigments which are liable to change or fade by exposure. The reason why oil colours do not materially change their tint on drying is carefully argued ; and the va¢iona/e of Petten- kofer’s ‘‘regeneration’’ process for picture-restoring is given. Chapter IX. sums up the indisputable evidence for regarding red, blue (or violet), and gveev, and not red, blue, and ye//ow, as the three fundamental colours, and later on is discussed the reason why a greater luminosity is obtained in mixing two colours optically, or by laying them side by side in minute touches, than is obtained by laying them over one another or by mixing them on the palette ; and the author adds no less truly than con- cisely: “every mixture of pigments on the painter's palette is @ stride toward blackness.” We can commend the volume to the notice of all who study colour, whether from an esthetic or a scientific point of view. SILVANUS P. THOMPSON OUR BOOK SHELF Zeitschrift fiir das chemische Grossgewerbe. Kurzer Bericht iiber die Fortschritte der chemischen Gross- industrie. In Vierteljahres-heften, iii. Jahrgang. Unter Mitwirkung angesehener Technologen und Techniker, Herausgegeben von Jul. Post. (Berlin: Verlag von Robert Oppenheim, 1879.) Tuts volume is the third issue of an Annual Report of Chemical Technology in Europe and America, published 80 NATURE ee [Nov. 27, 1879 in quarterly parts, the contents of each part being arranged under the following heads :— 1, Generalities and Statistics, Description of Apparatus and Machinery, Heat-production. 2. Dry Distillation of Heating and Lighting Materials, Sulphide of Carbon, Petroleum, Coal-gas, Wood-tar, Asphalte, &c. ee 3. Sulphur, Acids, Alkalis, Aluminium Salts, Borates, Chromates. 4. Oils and Fats, Resins, Glycerin, Volatile Oils, Lubricating Materials. i 5. Sugar, Starch, Fermentation, Wine, Beer, Spirits, Vinegar. 6, Food, Meat and its Preparations, Milk and Dairy Produce, Flour and Baking. 7. Dye-stuffs, Dyeing and Calico-printing. 8.. Tanning. g. Matches and Explosives. 1o, Glass, Earthenware, Cement, Plaster. 11. Metallurgy—Iron, Copper, Tin, Lead, Bismuth, Antimony, Nickel, Mercury, Silver, Gold, &c. 12. Smaller Industries—Oxalic Acid, Cellulose, Sali- cylic Acid, Tartaric Acid, Chloral Hydrate, Mineral Waters, Chloride of Zinc. Detailed criticism of the immense amount of matter contained in the 900 pages of the volume is, of course, impossible. Suffice it to say that the whole has been compiled with great care; every available source of information appears to have been thoroughly ransacked ; and the necessarily condensed descriptions of the several processes and products are supplemented by copious references to original papers. Lists of chemical patents taken out in Great Britain, America, France, Belgium, and Austro-Hungary, are also given at the end of each quarterly part, the whole extending to forty closely-printed pages. In the possession of such a report of chemical industry as the one now under consideration, and of the admirable Fahresbericht of Dr. Wagner, the manufacturers of Germany are certainly fortunate ; and when we consider the vast extent and importance of chemical manufactures in England and America, it is matter of surprise and regret that no similar work exists in the English language. Projects for such a work have, indeed, been started in this country, but their execution appears to be a problem for the future. Southern Stellar Objects for Small Telescopes, between the Equator and 55° South Declination, with Observa- tions made in the Punjab, By J. E. Gore, M.R.1.A,, " ALILC.E., &c. (Lodiana, 1877.) THIS small work is divided into two sections, The first contains objects arranged according to the constellations, and chiefly selected from Sir John Herschel’s Cape volume, which are within the scope of telescopes of very ordinary capacity, including double stars, clusters and nebulz, with special reference to stars which may prove to be variable. The second section contains the more original work of the author, who was provided with telescopes 3 and 3’9 inches aperture, in the Punjab, and wholly relates to southern stars possibly variable, some new and noteworthy cases being adduced. Mr. Gore appears to have made a useful comparison of Harding’s “ Atlas” with the sky, so far as relates to stars found in it, which do not occur in the great catalogue from the “ Histoire Céleste’’ of Lalande, or are under- lined in the “Atlas,” and it is in such cases that he has met with the most decided evidence of variability. Amongst them we may note L, 1028, a star twenty minutes due north of L. 8951, one in R.A. about 4h. 58m. for 1880, N.P.D. 111° 14’, apparently variable from 6m. to 9m. ; L, 19,662 from 4*5m. to 7m. ; L. 23,228; Oeltzen 17,670 (No, 31 in Mr. Gore’s list), observed three times by Argelander, and estimated 5, 7, and 5°6, which is 6m. in Harding, but not in Lalande or Heis ; No. 37, or Oeltzen 20363, called “a fine ruby star” by Sir John Herschel, and 64, and found to be only 8} or 9m., and fiery red with a 3-inch refractor in July, 1875, and L. 43,239. Generally, the objects mentioned in the author’s second section will deserve further examination. There is frequent reference to the magnitudes assigned in Proctor’s “Atlas,” by the side of those given by such original authorities as Lacaille, Heis, or even Harding; this is a mistake, and is more calculated to mislead than to assist a judgment on the question of variability. The author of this Atlas distinctly states in his preface that he has followed the magnitudes of the British Association Catalogue except for stars in Sir John Herschel’s list, which is a comparatively small one; the work is more of a popular description, and so far as we know may be useful to amateurs, but it is idle to quote the indications of this Atlas with those of Argelander or Heis, whose magnitudes are the results of actual comparison with the heavens. Probably after his clear reference to the source whence his magnitudes have been derived, no one will have been more surprised to find his work quoted as an authority in a question of change of brightness of a star than Mr. Proctor himself. We should hardly have referred to this point, were it not that others have made the same mistake as Mr. Gore. There are many misprints in this small volume, which should be avoided in another edition. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR [Zhe Editor does not hold himself responsible for opinions expressed by his correspondents. Neither can he undertake to return, or to correspond with the writers of, rejected manuscripts, No notice ts taken of anonymous communications. [Zhe Editor urgently requests correspondents to keep their letters as short as possible. The pressure on his space ts so great that it ts impossible otherwise to ensure the appearance even of com- munications containing interesting and novel facts.] A New Nebula On November 14, the Rev. ‘T. W. Webb discovered a small nebula, or nebulous star, in Cygnus. It is apparently identical with D.M. + 41, No. 4004, 85m. 1880 = 21h, 2m, 31s. + 41° 45'°3. At Dunecht Observatory the object was seen, on November 22 and 23, to be approximately monochromatic, seen through passing clouds ; about 5” diameter. LINDSAY Dunecht Observatory, November 24 Does Sargassum Vegetate in the Open Sea? THE reply of Dr, Wild in NATuRE, vol. xx. p. 578 to my query, does not satisfy me, for he partly cites old reports, that are, as I showed, mostly suspicious of being a mixture of the prevalent opinion since Columbus and observed facts. If it has been stated formerly that pelagic varieties (?) multiply only by simple growth and subdivision, and a wide area covered with sea-weeds corresponding to the Sargasso Sea occurring in the North Pacific, I believe that is only acompilation, I crossed the Pacific Sargasso Sea (as it is printed on the charts) in December, 1874, from 140° W. long., 35° N, lat., to 174° W. long., 29° N. lat., and observed no Sargassum at all! But it is possible that the quantity differs in different years. I ask, there- fore—and beg forpersonal observations only—has any one seen a difference in the quantity or density of floating Sargassum in different years, and in what degree or quantity has (1) brownish or olive-coloured, and (2) yellowish pale Sargassum been seen in several years? A flowering branch with buds of any garden plant, if cut and put into water, does not wither suddenly, but sometimes opens continuous to the buds, and may even sprout, but never for a long time; but we never call such cut flowering branches put into a water-glass water plants. I take Sargassum to be analogical, and it should not be allowed to consider the dying broken Sargassum or Fucus, that swing in the open sea, as pelagic in habit, or as a living variety of the open sea, Nov. 27, 1879] NATURE 81 If it has been stated that the last branches of floating Sargassum are paler, more delicate, and more active in their vitality ; I believe that to be no rea] observation, but only a supposition, for the more delicate and more branched ends become certainly pale at first, and with the diminution of chlorophyll can never increase their vitality. Does any one know in what time the olive- coloured broken Sargassum gets pale, and if pale Sargassum does really sprout to some extent, which I doubt, how long it continues to sprout? and further, after what time do the dead round air-vesicles of Sargassum break off? I should wish these questions cleared up by personal observations. Leipzig-Eutritzsch, Germany OTTo KUNTZE Remarkable Prediction of Cold In NATuRE, vol. xxi. p. 48, in the Meteorological Notes, it is stated, on the authority of Mr. Glaisher, that the present unusually cold weather set in on October 27, 1878. You perhaps are not aware that this was predicted almost to the day by Prof, Piazzi Smyth in NATURE, vol. v. p. 317. In an article on Heat Waves he gives the dates of these phenomena as follows :— Vears 1834°8, 1846°4, 1857°8, 1868°8, and 1880'0; the heat wave of 1880 to be preceded bya cold wave commencing 1878°8, which is, I need scarcely say, the end of October, 1878, Dulwich, November 17 B. G, JENKINS The Lizard Last August, while superintending the: burning of some dry bush in my pasture, I was surprised to see a ground lizard (Lacerta agilis) run up to the flames and stop on a bed of hot ashes, My little son who was with me endeavoured to turn it aside with a stick, but on his trying to do so, it darted into the fire and was soon consumed. ‘This I thought at the time accidental, but later in the day we returned to the same spot, and ina few minutes a larger lizard of the same species delibe- rately ran up to the burning bush; it paused on the warm ashes wagging its tail to and fro, apparently enjoying the heat, when all of a sudden it darted into the flames, and like the first one was instantly a willing holocaust. I turned to the Negro, who was burning the bush, for explanation, but like most of his race he accepted the fact as a matter of course, remarking ‘‘ lizard seem to love fire.” My ideas went back to the legends of the salamander. The story of the French consul at Rhodes (M. Pothonier), who one day found his cook in a terrible fright thinking the ‘‘ devil was in the fire,” and when he looked into the bright flames, saw there a little animal with open mouth and palpitating throat, and on trying to secure it with the tongs, it ran into a heap of hot ashes. He secured it and gave it to Buffon, who found it to be a small lizard, whose feet and a portion of the body were half roasted. M. Pothonier first thought it was incombustible, having remained in the fire three minutes, but imagined that it might have been brought in with the fuel. Nicander, Dioscorides and Pliny, all allude to the fire-proof qualities of the ‘‘salamandra.” Aristotle speaks of the salamandra’s power of extinguishing fire with the copious secretion of saliva which it has the power of ejecting into the flames. As far as my own observation goes all lizards have the power of ejecting saliva, The Negroes have a dread of the croaking lizard’s (Gecko) *‘spitting” at them. I do not believe that any Jamaica lizard has fotsonous saliva, but that the saliva is deleterious, I am quite sure. That cats get ‘‘ fits” from eating lizards is a well accepted fact, their air falls out, and they become sick and droop, confirming the belief in the depilatory properties of the salamander’s saliva, As Martial puts it (Lib. ii, Ep. lxi.):— ; ‘‘ Desine jam, Lalage, tristes ornare capillos, Tangat et insanum nulla puella caput. Hoc salamandra notet, vel seva novacula nudet, Ut digna speculo fiat imago tuo.’”” Before closing these jottings, I should like to correct an error in a recent work on Natural History, in which it is stated that “the Zguana is extinct in Famaica.” This is not the case. They are still to be found in numbers on the Cashew trees in the lowlands, especially St. \Catherine’s. I once had a long fight in trying to pull a large one out of a hole ina tree, by the tail, He won the battle ‘‘ by the skin of his tail.” Monattrie, St. Andrew, Jamaica, W.1., October 14 JASPER CARGILL The ‘“ Hexameter,” Maca ddois dyad)... «.7.A. Ir is surely no argument against Prof, Clerk Maxwell’s notion, that in the epistle (James i. 17) the enclitic particle re is omitted. Read, of course, aca décts 7° dyabx) Kal way Sepynua TéAciov, - and the verse is perfect. The practice of omitting a word (or part of a word) necessary to the scansion of a verse is all too common with prosists quoting poetry. I give one example from an English writer. Robert Greene, the earliest to allude to Shakespeare, in his “‘ Groatsworth of Wit bought with a Million of Repentance” (1692), quotes, just as if they were prose, six lines from a contemporary poet; and in so doing omits two whole words, and part of another! He writes, as prose, omitting all that I here give in italics— “« Then onely Tyrants should possesse the earth, Who striving to exceede in ‘Tyranny, Should each to other be a slaughter-man; Uatill the mightiest outliving all, One stroke were left for Death, that in one age Man’s life should end,” I am pleased to learn from the obituary notice in NATURE of that great man, that Clerk Maxwell’s thoughts during his illness reverted to Shakespeare; but had/he less profitably ‘thought of Greene’s assault on Shakespeare, and. had it struck him that the foregoing must be in heroic verse, what would be thought of the critic who should object to this, that the first, second, and fourth of these so-called verses are, by one syllable each, too short? ~ Athenzeum Club, November 22 C. M. INcLEBY» - Ir cannot be supposed that our translators meant to compose a verse when they wrote the line which Longfellow transfers bodily into his ‘‘ Evangeline ” :— «Husbands, love your wives, and be not bitter against them.” So the metrical cadence here may be quite accidental. Still I cannot think that the defect of quantity in the final syllable of ddots is fatal to the idea that it-may be a line from an early Christian doxology : especially when we suppose it written in Alexandrian or Hellenistic Greek, The arsis, or natural stress of the voice, would cover up the defect, especially in chanting ; and it would scarcely be a defect at all to non-classical ears. The process which rapidly from the Christian era substituted stress or accent, as we now understand it, for quantity, seems to have been greatly accelerated by the hymns of the Church. In any case every trace of such quotations is of great interest to every student of the New Testament, HENRY CECIL Bregner, Bournemouth, November 22 Unconscious Cerebration IT HAVE delayed noticing a communication, headed Unconscious Impressions, by Mr, C. J. Monro, in NATURE, vol. xx. p. 426. This refers to what Dr. Carpenter calls Unconscious Cerebra- tion, but which when I discovered it likewise, I called Un- conscious Thought. With Mr. Monro’s conclusion that an unconscious impression is stronger than a conscious one, his statement does not impress me, nor is it supported by my own experience. My attention had been recalled to the subject by observing children, and in their actions it appears to me we may find the beginning of the process of unconscious cerebration. So far it appears that conscious cerebration precedes and lays the foundation for the unconscious process. When a baby is practising, as for instance in handling an object, its attention is closely given in the early stages and in its various experiments, and it is only after a time that the performance becomes purely mechanical. The same is to be noted of young animals. Hence I conclude that as various practices become habitual, and, as some style them, instinctive, conscious cerebration ceases to be employed. Thus is formed the habit of only regarding some objects consciously, and necessarily that of regarding others without cerebration, Thus I treat unconscious cerebra- tions as becoming habitual. HyDE CLARKE 32, St. George’s Square, S.W., November 20 Mr, Thomas Bolton’s Natural History Discoveries I onLY became aware on Saturday evening last, the 15th inst., of the paragraph kindly inserted by Prof, E, Ray Lankester, 82 F.R.S., as editor, in the Quarterly Fournal of Microscopical Science for October, in reference to my studio and agency for the supply of microscopic organisms. Of course I have to thank him most sincerely for calling the attention of naturalists to my efforts, and so strongly calling on them to support me, but he has given me credit in some directions which is due to other naturalists to whom I am under considerable obligations. I wish to correct this view at once by writing to your periodical in preference to waiting till the next number of the Quarterly can appear. Prof. Lankester’s language may lead those who have not seen other reports to put down the actual first finding of several organisms new to the British fauna to me, whereas several of them were first picked up by others. The Zeftodora was found at Olton during a visit made by a party of the Birmingham Natural History and Microscopical Society on July 26. Whilst the president, Mr. Graham, the curators, Messrs. Levick and Lloyd, some other members, and myself, were searching the pool from a boat, Mr. Levick’s unusually sharp eyes first called the attention of the others to some lively organism in his bottle, which he at first thought to be a larva, and Mr. Graham was, I believe, the first to suggest that it was probably a larval form of an Entomostracan. After this they were collected in large numbers with the net. As soon as possible I asked my friend Mr. Forrest to make a drawing, which I had printed, and drew up a short account of it for my subscribers, describing it as a larval form of one of the Ento- mostraca; but before I had finished writing this I found one carrying four large eggs in the second segment of the body, which fact I added to my description, and which I pointed out would lead to the supposition that it was no larva, but a mature animal, I sent the specimens out on August 1, and the earliest notice I had from my subscribers was from Sir John Lubbock, F.R.S., who wrote by return to say he was much interested in the curious crustacean which he believed to be new to this country, and on August 6 Prof. Lankester wrote to say the crustacean I had sent was the Lepfodora hyalina. In looking over the water in which we had taken the Leptodora, I found another Entomostracan which was new to me, and I called Mr. Forrest’s attention to it, and gave him some specimens which he took home and studied, and finding no trace of them in Baird’s ‘‘ Ento- mostraca,” he made a drawing of it and drew up a description of it for the Midland Naturalist of September, under the name of Daphnia bairdit. With permission of the editor I distributed copies of this plate and description, with living specimens, to my subscribers on August 8, and on the 13th Prof, Lankester wrote me to say ‘‘ the beautiful Daphnia bairdii of Mr. Forrest is the already described Hyalodaphnia kahlbergensis of Schédler” (see Mr. Forrest’s further remarks, AZid, Vat,, November, page 281). In looking over Prof, Lankester’s remarks, I was surprised to see his account of the new Protozoa, which reminded me that on April 30 he had written to me saying that the Amcebz gathering was only interesting, and asking me to send hima good lot more, as he thought he had found something new, but I could only send him a small tube more, as this, together with the large Amcebze to which he refers, came from a small beaker aquarium in the study of my friend Mr, Levick. I must apologise for having taken up so much of your space, but in fairness to Mr. Levick and Mr. Forrest, I could not well let the report pass without comment, giving them full credit of first finding the objects; but at the same time I cannot help thinking that the discoveries (if ever published) would have been much longer before they had been brought before the scientific world, had it not been for the distribution of the specimens through my agency. As it is, however, my wish not to take more credit than is due, I shall always be glad to point out the first finders of organisms which may be entrusted to me for dis- tribution, and which may a/fer wards turn out to be of any special interest. In furtherance of Prof, Lankester’s kind appeal to naturalists for the pecuniary support of my agency, I must really ask them toact upon it, as, so far, my studio is not sufficiently remunerative to induce me to persevere with it much longer, as my receipts for the last year have barely covered my office rent, collecting, and individual expenses. THomaAs BOLTON 17, Ann Street, Birmingham, November 19 Intellect in Brutes THE following is a curious instance of discrimination, which I have observed in my bullfinch, He is in the habit of coming out NATURE [Wov. 27, 1879 of his cage in my room in the morning. In this room there is a mirror with a marble slab before it, and also a very cleverly- executed water-colour drawing of a hen-buillfinch, life-size, The first thing which my bullfinch does on leaving his cage is to fly to the picture (perching on a vase just below it), and pipe his tune in the most insinuating manner, accompanied with much bowing to the portrait of the hen-bullfinch. After having duly paid his addresses to it, he generally spends some time on the marble slab in front of the looking-glass, but without showing the slightest emotion at the sight of his own reflection, or worthying it with asong. Whether this perfect coolness is due to the fact of the reflection being that of a cock-bird, or whether (since he shows no desire to fight the reflected image) he is perfectly well aware that he only sees himself, it is difficult to say. SOPHIE FRANKLAND “Asia Minor” in the ‘Encyclopedia Britannica” In the article on ‘‘ Asia Minor” in the new edition of the “Encyclopedia Britannica,” in speaking of Tchihatcheff’s “* Asie Mineure,” the writer says: ‘‘But those [vols.] which should have contained the geology and the archxology have never been published.” As this may mislead some of your readers it may be worth recording the fact that the part on geology was published in 1867-69; and the paleontological division in 1866-69. Oxford . ON THE SOLUBILITY OF SOLIDS IN GASES* TH investigation was undertaken in the hope that, by an examination of the conditions of liquid matter up to the “critical” point, sufficient knowledge might be gained to enable us to determine under what particular conditions liquids are dynamically comparable, in order that the microrheometrical method? (which the Royal Society has done one of us the honour of publishing in the Philosophical Transactions) might be applied to determine their molecular mass and energy relations. It seemed that as the laws relating to gases and liquids merge at what was called by Baron Cagniard de la Tour® “état particulier,’ and by Dr. Andrews* the “ critical point,” an examination of matter up to the limit of the liquid state would be likely to yield us much information. The time we have to devote to scientific work being very limited, we found that it was quite impossible to make much advance by using the apparatus devised by Dr. Andrews, as the time required to change from one liquid to another was more than we had at our disposal. We therefore devised a new apparatus, which will be de- scribed in a more lengthy communication, but which, we may state, can be opened, the liquid changed, and again closed for a new experiment, in about one minute, The question as to the state of matter immediately beyond the critical point being considered by Dr. Andrews to be at that time incapable of receiving an answer, we imagined that some insight might be gained into its condition by dissolving in the liquid some solid substance whose fusing point was much above the critical point of the liquid, and noticing whether, on the latter passing its critical point and assuming the gaseous con dition, the solid was precipitated or remained in solution. We found that the solid was not deposited but remained in solution, or rather in diffusion, in the atmosphere of ~ vapour, even when the temperature was raised 130° above the critical point, and the gas was considerably expanded. When the side of a tube containing a strong gaseous solution of a solid is approached by a red hot iron, the part next the source of heat becomes coated with a crys- talline deposit which slowly redissolves on allowing the local disturbance of temperature to disappear. Rarefac- tion seems to be the cause of this deposition, because if t By J. B. Hannay, F.R.S.E., F.C.S., and James Hogarth. Read at the Royal Society, November 20. ? “On the Michrorheometer,” P/i?. Trans Roy. Soc., 1879. 3 Ann. Chim., series 2me, xxi. p. 127 ; XVil. Pp. 410. 4 © Bakerian Lecture,” Phil. Trans. Roy. Soc., 18€9, p- 588. Nov. 27, 1879] NATURE 33 the temperature be raised equally and the volume retained at its original value, no deposition takes place. Those experiments have been done with such solvents as alcohol (ethyl and methyl), ether, carbon disulphide and tetra- chloride, paraffins, and olefines, and such solids as sulphur, chlorides, bromides, and iodides of the metals, and organic substances such as chlorophyll and the aniline dyes. Some solutions show curious reactions at the critical point. Thus ethyl alcohol, or ether, deposits ferric chloride from solution just below the critical point, but re-dissolves it in the gas, when it has been raised 8° or 10° above that temperature. : It appeared to us to be of some importance to examine the spectroscopic appearances of solutions of solids when their liquid menstrua were passing to the gaseous state, but as all the substances we have yet been able to obtain in the two states give banded spectra with nebulous edges, we are only able to state that the substance does not show any appreciable change at the critical point of its solvent. Such was the case with anhydrous chloride of cobalt in absolute alcohol. It was suggested to us by Prof. Stokes that the substance obtained by the decom- position of the green colouring matter of leaves by acids, and which yields a very fine absorption spectrum, might be useful for our purpose. We have prepared. the sub- stance according to the careful directions so kindly fur- nished us by Prof. Stokes, and find that it shows the phenomenon in a marked manner, whether dissolved in alcohol or ether. The compound is easily decomposed by heat under ordinary circumstances, and yet can be dissolved in gaseous menstrua, and raised to a tempera- ture of 350° without suffering any decomposition, showing the same absorption spectrum at that elevated tempera- ture as at 15°. We considered that it would be most interesting to examine by this method a body such as sodium, which, besides being an element, yields in the gaseous state sharp absorption lines, An opportunity seemed to be afforded by the blue solution of sodium in liquefied ammonia, described by Gore,! but we found that, on raising the ammonia above its critical point, the sodium combined with some constituent of the gas, forming a white solid, and yielding a permanent gas, probably hydrogen. There seems, in some cases, to be a slight shifting of the absorption bands towards the red, as the temperature rises, but we have as yet been able to make no accurate measurements. When the solid is precipitated by suddenly reducing the pressure, it is crystalline, and may be brought down as a “snow” in the gas, or on the glass as a “frost,” but it is always easily redissolved by the gas on increasing the pressure. These phenomena are seen to the best advantage by a solution of potassic iodide in absolute alcohol. We have, then, the phenomenon of a solid with no measurable gaseous pressure, dissolving in a gas, and not being affected by the passage of its menstruum through the critical point to the liquid state, showing it to be a true case of gaseous solution of a solid. Private Laboratory, Sword Street, Glasgow ON PHOTOGRAPHING THE SPECTRA OF THE STARS AND PLANETS? For many years it has seemed probable that great interest would be attached to photographs of the spectra of the heavenly bodies, because they offer to us conditions of temperature and pressure that cannot be attained by any means known at present on the earth, The especial point of interest is connected with considera- * Proc. Roy. Soc., vol. xxi. p. 145. 2 Read before the National ‘Academy of Sciences, October 28, by Henry Draper, M.D. tions regarding the probable non-elementary nature of the so-called elementary bodies. There has long been a sus- picion in the minds of scientific men that one or more truly elementary bodies would be found from which those substances which have not as yet been decomposed are formed. The recent publications of Lockyer have at- tracted particular attention to this topic. The most promising laboratory processes for accom- plishing the dissociation of our present elements depend upon the action of heat, especially when accompanied by electrical influences, and upon relief of pressure. But the temperature we can employ is far below that found in the stars, which is comparable only with the heat of our sun, and when in addition the application of heat is restricted by the narrow range of circumstances under which we can also reduce the pressure, complete success seems to be impracticable in the laboratory. But in the stars, nebula, and comets, there is a multi- tude of experiments all ready performed for us with a variety of conditions of just the kind we need. It re- mains for us to observe and interpret these results, and this is the direction I have sought to pursue. There is but one mode of investigation that can add materially to the knowledge astronomy has given us of the heavenly bodies—that is the spectroscopic. This in its turn is capable of a subdivision into two methods, one by the eye, the other by photography. Each of these has its special advantages and each its defects. The eye sees most easily the middle regions of the spectrum, and can appreciate exceedingly faint spectra; by the aid of micrometers it can map with precision the position of the Fraunhofer lines, and by estimation it can with tolerable accuracy approximate to the relative strength, breadth, and character of these lines. The character of the spec- trum lines is, however, of great value for the purposes we are now speaking of, and the greatest precision is needed. Photography, on the other hand, as applied to faint spectra, deals mainly with the more refrangible region, and cannot at present be employed in stellar work below the line F. Fortunately there is no break in the spectrum between the place where the eye leaves off and photography begins, and hence the two methods lend one another mutual assistance. The photograph, when suit- ably accommodated with a standard reference spectrum from some known source, gives valuable indications as to the positions and all the peculiarities of the lines. But the application of photography to the taking of stellar spectra is surrounded by obstacles. These are partly due to the small quantity of light to be dealt with, and partly to the fact that it is necessary to overcome the motion of the earth and other causes, such as atmospheric refraction, which seem to make a star change its place continually. The exposures of the sensitive plate require to be sometimes for two hours, even with a large tele- scope; and if during that time the image of the star at the focus of the telescope has changed place z45 of an inch, the light no longer falls on the slit of the spectro- scope. The changes of the earth’s atmosphere in regard to photographic transparency, as well as by fog, also offer impediments and promote the chances of failure. There is often a yellow condition of the air, which may increase the length of exposure required forty times or more. It will from what has been said above, be readily per- ceived that a research such as this consumes a great deal of time; in fact, these experiments and the preparations for them have extended over more than twelve years. large telescope is required, and for many reasons the reflector at first seems most suitable. Recently, however, I have found that the refractor has also some special advantages. J In 1866 I had already constructed a silvered glass reflector of 15} inches aperture, which was commenced in 1858, and had taken with it many hundreds of photo- graphs of the moon. But as the mounting had been 34 NATURE a egies [Mov. 27, 1879. contrived for lunar photography and to avoid the moon’s motion in declination, the instrument was not suitable for the spectroscopic work contemplated. A reflector of 28 inches aperture was therefore commenced in 1866, and in 1871 it was ready for use. On May 29, 1872, my first photograph of the spectrum of astar was taken, the spectrum of Vega being photo- graphed by the aid of a quartz prism. At this time I did not happen to know that Dr. Huggins, who is so distinguished for his thorough and accurate researches on the visible portion of the spectra of the heavenly bodies, had already made some attempts in this direc- tion, as is shown by the following paragraph from the Transactions of the Royal Society for 1864:—*On the 27th of February, 1863, and on the 3rd of March of the same year, when the spectrum of Sirius was caused to fall upon a sensitive collodion surface, an intense spectrum of the more refrangible part was obtained. From want of accurate adjustment of the focus, or from the motion of the star not being exactly compensated by the clock movement, or from atmospheric tremors, the spectrum, though tolerably defined at the edges, presented no indications of lines. Our other investigations have hitherto prevented us from continuing these experiments farther, but we have not abandoned our intention of pursuing them.” During August, 1872, I took several photographs of the spectrum of Vega, and these showed four strong lines at the more refrangible end of the spectrum, the least refrangible being near G. On pursuing the subject and seeking to ascertain what substances gave rise to these lines, it became obvious that a photographic study of this part of the spectrum for the metals and non-metals was necessary to interpret the results. This, of course, opened out a large field for experiment, requiring many years for its study, and hence, as several physicists were engaging in the study of the spectra of the metals, I concluded to discontinue the experiments commenced in 1870 on the spectra of the metals and to confine the investigation mainly to the non-metals. The initial step was, however, to obtain a fine photograph of the normal solar spectrum, so that the wave-lengths of the lines up to O [wave-length 3440] might be determined with precision. In the spring of 1873 I published a paper on the dif- fraction spectrum of the sun, illustrated by a photograph embracing the region from wave-length 4350, near G, to 3440, near O, and in the fall of the same year took photo- graphs of the spectra of several non-metals, notably nitrogen, carbon, and oxygen. The experiments were interrupted, in the spring of 1874, by going to Washing- ton to superintend the photographic preparations for the United States observations on the transit of Venus. Since that time my experiments have been divided into two parts, an astronomical portion occupying principally the summer season, and a laboratory portion during the rest of the year. The former consisted of photographs and observations on the spectra of the stars, planets, and sun; the latter of photographic work on the spectra of the elements, and particularly the non-metals, and has led to the discovery of oxygen in the sun. In 1876 Dr. Huggins published a note in the Pro- ceedings of the Royal Society, accompanied by a wood- cut of the spectrum of Vega, with a comparison solar spectrum. Seven lines were observed in the spectrum of Vega. In the summer and autumn of 1876 I made several photographs of the spectra of Vega, a Aquilz, and Venus, and sent a note concerning them to the American Journal. Since that time Dr. Huggins has pursued the subject actively in spite of the London atmosphere, and has attained very fine results, which I had the pleasure of seeing at his observatory last spring. These he is preparing to publish shortly. In my observatory photographs have been taken of the spectrum of Vega, Arcturus, Capella, a Aquilae, Jupiter, Mars, Venus, the moon, &c. Recently the plan has been to have a comparison solar spectrum on every plate, derived either from the diffused light of our atmosphere or from the moon or from Jupiter. In this way no difficulty in determining the wave-lengths of the lines is encountered, and the changes produced by our atmosphere are eliminated, The telescope and spectro- scope are now in good working order, but to secure the requisite degree of precision of movement it has been necessary to make seven different driving-clocks before a satisfactory one was attained. It has been remarked that on account of the faintness of the light of stellar spectra, prolonged exposures of the sensitive plate are required. In former times, when the dry processes of photography were much less sensitive than the best wet plates, the exposure was limited by the length of time the plate could be left in the camera with- out being stained by drying. But now, since the gelatino- bromide process has been introduced, this obstacle has been removed and a sensitive plate is sometimes exposed two hours to the spectrum of a star and then almost an hour to Jupiter for the comparison spectrum. The best, and most sensitive, gelatine plates I have used are those made by Wratten and Wainwright, of London; Dr. Huggins was good enough to call my attention to them. It is not worth while to describe the various forms of spectroscope that have been employed in the last ten years ; quartz, Iceland spar, hollow prisms and flint glass have been the materials, and they have been sometimes direct vision and sometimes on the usual angular plan. Gratings on glass and speculum metal given to me by Mr. Rutherford have been tried. The length of spectro- scope has been sometimes 28 feet and sometimes not as many inches, The especial spectroscope for stellar work that is now on the telescope is intended to satisfy the following con- ditions : (1) to get the greatest practicable dispersion with the least width of spectrum that will permit the lines to be seen; (2) to use the entire beam of light collected by the 28-inch reflector.or 12-inch achromatic without loss by diaphragms; (3) to permit the slit to be easily seen so that the star may be adjusted on it; (4) to avoid flexure or other causes that might change the position of the spectrum on the sensitive plate in pointing the telescope first on one and then on another object ; (5) to admit of observing the spectrum on the sensitive plate at any time during an exposure withcut risk of shifting or disarrange- ment. The dispersion is produced by two heavy flint prisms which are devoid of. yellow colour ; the telescopes are about 6 inches in focal length, and the slit has a movable plate in front of it, enabling the operator to uncover either the upper or the lower portion at will. During the past summer this spectroscope has been used with the Clark refractor of 12 inches aperture, partly because the 28-inch reflector has been kept unsilvered since it was used in taking photographs of the transit of Mercury, on account of its employment in certain experi- ments on the sun. Moreover, there is an advantage possessed by the refractor for this work which does not appear at first sight. Naturally one supposes that a reflector which brings all the rays from the star, no matter what their refrangibility, to a focus in one plane, would be best, because when the slit is put in that plane it is equally illuminated by rays of all refrangibilities, and the spectrum will be parallel-sided in its whole length. On the other hand a refractor is not achromatic, for the violet end of the spectrum comes to a focus either inside or outside of the plane of the rays in the middle of the spectrum, and in observing the spectrum it is not parallel- sided. This peculiarity was used by Mr. Rutherford to enable him to correct a telescope lens for the ultra-violet rays. It is easy, therefore, with a refractor, so to adjust the position of the slit that you may have a spectrum Nov. 27, 1879] NATURE 85 tolerably wide at F and G, and which gradually dimi- nishes in width towards H, and finally becomes linear at M. Nowas the effect of atmospheric absorption on the spectrum increases as you pass from G toward H and above H, by diminishing the width of the spectrum you can in some measure neutralise the effect, and at one exposuie obtain a photograph of nearly uniform intensity from end to end, though it is of variable width. If it were not for this it would be necessary to have the spec- trum over-exposed at G in order to be visible above H, or else to resort to an elaborate diaphraghming which is difficult. It is my intention next season to return to the use of the 28-inch reflector, because it collects nearly five times as much light as the 12-inch does, after making allowance for the secondary mirror. Of course in a large reflector the difficulties of flexure and instability of the optical axis are much increased, and keeping a star on the slit will be troublesome, especially as the magnifying power on the image is about 50. As to the results obtained, it has already been men- tioned that the spectra of several stars and planets have been photographed. The subject of planetary spectra will be reserved for a future communication. A preliminary examination at once shows that these stellar spectra are divisible into two groups: (1) those closely resembling the solar spectrum, and (2) those in which there are rela- tively but few lines, and those of great breadth and in- tensity. The photographs of the spectra of Arcturus and Capella are so similar to the solar spectrum, that I have not up to the present detected any material differences. But, on the other hand, the spectra of Vega and a Aquilz are totally different, and it is not easy without prolonged study and the assistance of laboratory experiments to interpret the results, and even then it will be necessary to speak with diffidence. I have not as yet obtained any stellar spectrum photographs belonging to the third and fourth groups of stellar spectra as described by Secchi. These, if obtainable, will aid materially in discussing the whole subject, but unless a star passes near the zenith it is hard to make a fair study of its spectrum by photo- graphy, because atmospheric absorption in the ultra-violet region increases rapidly as the altitude decreases. In the case of the sun I have found that at sunset the exposure necessary to photograph the spectrum above H, is often 200 times as long as at mid-day. In the case of the spectrum of Vega, when examined by the eye, the lines C, F, near G and /, are readily visible, but lines such as D and @ are relatively faint. It is clear, then, that hydregen exists to a large extent in the atmosphere of that star. But on examining the pho- tograph of its spectrum it is evident that other lines just as conspicuous as the hydrogen lines, are present. One of these corresponds in position and character to H,, and seems to coincide with a calcium line. It appears to me, however, that the evidence of this coincidence is not complete. In attempting to reason from these photographs as the matter now stands, it is necessary to try at every step farther experiments in order to find out whether the facts agree with the hypothesis, and it is this very condition of affairs that gives hopes of results valuable in their bearing on terrestrial chemistry and physics. In the photographs of the spectrum of Vega there are eleven lines, only two of which are certainly accounted for, two more may be calcium, the remaining seven, though bearing a most suspicious resemblance to the hydrogen lines in their general characters, are as yet not identified. It would be worth while to subject hydrogen to a more intense incandescence than any yet attained, to see whether in photographs of its spectrum under those circumstances any trace of these lines, which extend to wave-length 3700, could be found. -It is to be hoped that before long we may be able to i : ‘ nvestigate photographically the spectra of the gaseous nebulz, for in them the most elementary condition of matter and the simplest spectra are doubtless found. THE FUNCTION OF CHLOROPHYLL hae Report of the Berlin Academy for July last con- tains a remarkable paper by Prof. Pringsheim on this subject. In pursuing his researches upon chloro- phyll, he had found that positive results could only be obtained by employing z#¢ense light, and in this paper he gives some account of the conclusions at which he has been enabled to arrive by the use of this method. By means of a heliostat and a strong lens, the object to be observed under the microscope is brightly and con- stantly illuminated ; the effects of this illumination, which are striking, are produced in a few (3-6) minutes. As- suming that the object contains chlorophyll-corpuscles, the first visible effect is the rapid disappearance of the green colour, so that the object appears as if it had been lying for some days in alcohol, the corpuscles retaining however their form and consistence. Changes now gradually become apparent in the protoplasmic cell- contents ; the circulation of the protoplasm, where it exists, is arrested ; the bridles of protoplasm rupture, and the nucleus is displaced; the ectoplasm contracts, becomes permeable to colouring-matters, and the turgidity of the cell disappears ; the cell presents, in fact, all the symptoms of death. It seems natural to suggest that these effects may be due, to some extent at least, to the action of the high temperature to which the cell is exposed under these con- ditions. Prof. Pringsheim, anticipating this criticism, is careful to point out that they are produced by all the different parts of the visible spectrum. They are quite evident when the light has previously passed through a solution of iodine in carbon disulphide, but they are more distinct when the light has passed through an ammoniacal solution of cupric oxide; the light to which the object is exposed consisting, in the former case, of red rays, in the latter, of blue and violet. Moreover, if the solution of iodine be so concentrated that only the rays of a greater wave-length than 000061 m.m. can pass, these effects are not produced although about eighty per cent. of the heat is transmitted ; on the other hand, if the ammoniacal solution of cupric oxide be so concentrated that the whole of the rays of low refrangibility to a wave- length of o'00051 m.m. are absorbed, the effects are rapidly and vividly produced, although the amount of heat which passes is comparatively small. From these facts he con- cludes that the phenomena in question are the results not of the action of heat, but of that of light. This important point being settled, he proceeds to determine in what manner this action of the intense light is affected by the atmosphere in which the object exists. As the result of a variety of experiments he finds that these effects are only produced when the atmosphere contains oxygen. ; Z These are very briefly the facts which Prof. Pringsheim has ascertained by this method ; we will at once pass to the consideration of the conclusions which he draws from them. He concludes, in the first place, that the decom- position (oxidation) of chlorophyll in the living plant is a process of combustion which is influenced and promoted by the action of light, and which stands in no relation to the decomposition of carbonic acid by the plant. Since the green colour of the chlorophyll-corpuscles which have become blanched is not subsequently restored, even though the cell continue to live, it appears that this oxidation of the chlorophyll is not a normal physiological occurrence, but that it is purely pathological. Prof. Prings- heim was unable to find any substance in the cells which might be regarded as the product of the oxidation of the chlorophyll, neither could he detect any increase 86 of the fat or starch in the blanched cell, nor the formation of grape-sugar or dextrin: he therefore concludes that the products of the oxidation of the chlorophyll are given off in the gaseous form. In the second place he concludes that the changes produced in the protoplasmic cell-contents are the direct effects of the photochemical action of light. That they are not due to the presence of the products of the decomposed chlorophyll is shown by the fact that they may be observed equally well in cells which do not contain chlorophyll, such as the stinging-hairs of the nettle, &c. This being the case, he infers that they too are produced by a process of combustion. The final conclusion to which he comes is that chlorophyll exercises a protective influence over the protoplasmic cell-contents by absorbing the actinic rays of the spectrum, thus diminishing the combustion (respiration) going on in the cell ; that it is in fact the regulator of the respiration. In another series of experiments Prof. Pringsheim endeavours to determine what are the substances which become oxidised in the process of respiration. He finds in all chlorophyll-containing cells, a substance which can be best extracted by immersing the parts—leaves for instance—in dilute hydrochloric acid for several hours. This substance, to which he gives the name of hypo- chlorin or hypochromyl, is of an oily nature; it is pro- bably a hydrocarbon which consists only of carbon and of hydrogen, or one which contains oxygen also in its molecule, but in smaller proportion than the carbo- hydrates ; it is soluble in alcohol, ether, turpentine, and benzol, but insoluble in water and in solutions of neutral salts ; it occurs in long, red-brown, crystalline needles which soon harden after extraction, into an imperfectly crystalline mass of resinous or waxy consistence. It is readily oxidisable, as is shown by the fact that it dis- appears from the cell on exposure to intense light in an atmosphere containing oxygen, even sooner than the chlorophyll. Prof. Pringsheim is of opinion that this substance is the first product of the assimilation of the chlorophyll-corpuscle, and that starch and oil are sub- sequently formed from it by oxidation. Applying these views to the life of the cell under ordinary conditions, the changes going on in the cell when exposed in the air to sunlight would be somewhat as follows : the general protoplasm would undergo some amount of oxidation, but not so much as to materially diminish its quantity or affect its properties; in the chlorophyll-corpuscles, oxidation would be either entirely arrested in consequence of the absorption of the actinic rays by the green colouring-matter, or at least so much diminished that the synthesis of the elements of water and carbonic acid to form hypochlorin could take place. Since this paper is stated to be a merely provisional account of these very interesting experiments, it is hardly fair to submit it to a detailed criticism: it will be better to wait until the publication of the more complete account which Prof. Pringsheim promises in an early number of his Jahrbiicher. All that will be attempted at present is to indicate some of the principal difficulties which beset the acceptance of these new views. For instance, exception may be taken to the view that chloro- phyll, when exposed to intense light is oxidised into gaseous bodies. It is well known that an alcoholic solution of chlorophyll, when exposed to sunlight in the presence of air, becomes oxidised and assumes a pale yellow colour ; it may be that this also takes place in the -chlorophyll-corpuscles, the yellow colour being hardly distinguishable on account of the smallness of the quantity which is present. Again, it will doubtless have occurred to every reader of this paper that hypochlorin may be nothing more than the wax which has long been known to exist in considerable quantity in chlorophyll-corpuscles. But the main difficulty has reference to the protective functions which Prof. Pringsheim ascribes to chlorophyll. NATURE [Nov. 27, 1879 Admitting that the changes described above as occurring in the protoplasmic cell-contents are really the results of excessive oxidation consequent upon exposure to the intense light, it is evident that they are effected less quickly than the oxidation of the chlorophyll itself; that is to say that, cefer’s paribus, the chlorophyll is more readily oxidised than the protoplasm. ‘This being the case, it is not easy to understand how the former can efficiently protect the latter from the oxidising influence of light and regulate its respiration. This difficulty might perhaps be met by the suggestion that fresh supplies of chlorophyll are continually being formed, but we have no knowledge yet at present of any such continual formation of chlorophyll; on the contrary, it is a well-established fact that when once the chlorophyll of a corpuscle is oxidised, it does not regain its green colour. It might perhaps be possible to obtain some further knowledge on this subject by observing the effects pro- duced in cells by the action of strong light falling upon them, in some cases, directly, in others, after having passed through a solution of chlorophyll which would be renewed from time to time if necessary. If it were found, that, in the latter case, the cells remained unin- jured whereas in the former they soon died, some im- portant evidence in favour of Prof. Pringsheim’s views would be obtained. It might then be possible to extend these experiments and to bring about the formation of starch from carbonic acid and water in the cells of fungi, and even of animals, for Mr. Geddes’ interesting obser- vations on planarians show that animal as well as vege- table protoplasm is capable of effecting this synthesis. SYDNEY H. VINES THE CAMBRIDGE NATURAL SCIENCES TRIPOS W OULD science suffer by the division of the second. part of the tripos into a non-biological and a biological division which might be taken in successive weeks with separate examiners ? Let us make sure that in future geologists know well their chemistry and physics, and insist on all biologists knowing how to work their microscope well. Perhaps some geologists will shrink from a division of subjects ; and consider that every geologist should know palzon- tology well. But the study of fossil plants and animals is surely a part of systematic botany and zoology; in fact, geology and palzontology would gain by being separated, so far as the one is physical, stratigraphical, petrological, and mineralogical, or the other truly biological, The knowledge of fossils as characterising a “ formation ” is not a biological subject ; a man may recognise fossils wel! enough for geological purposes who knows little of zoology properly so called. Biology suffers greatly from the want of paleontologists as distinct from physical geologists and petrologists. How many men are there who would agree that biology (“the study of things living or that have lived”) is very difficult to separate from physical and non-biological subjects for examinational purposes? Let us acknowledge that it is more necessary that, at the commencement of his scientific career, a man should be known and recognised as a well-educated biologist than as a vegetable anatomist, or a palzontologist, or an embryologist. Every man seeking biological honours may find sufficiently little chemistry and physics in the first part of the natural sciences tripos not to daunt him, if he is capable of research. Surely it is better to secure a man’s general physico-chemical knowledge if he is to be a geological surveyor of the first rank, and also train him in elementary biology, than to encourage too early specialisation. My proposal is that in the second part of the natural sciences tripos four or more examiners should be specially chosen to set and approve the biological questions, and Nov. 27, 1879] NATURE 87 four or more, the physico-chemical and geological ques- tions ; that the latter should have a separate class-list and days of examination, with four written papers of three rows each, and a practical examination ; and that the biological examination should have four papers and bein other respects similarly conducted, letting no special marks of distinction be given. Few first-rate candidates would desire to take both these examinations, and if they desire further distinction in particular subjects, original work in research or authorship, is surely the best test ; and the University might subsequently give to competent men degrees in science which now it unfairly cannot give; the degree of Doctor of Science should be given to men qualified to be University Readers or Professors in Science. Mr. Hillhouse, of Trinity, the Assistant Curator of the Cambridge Herbarium, and one of the editors of the Cambridge Review, in an article last week, admits that which many promoters of learning might think a sign of unrest and indecision, rather than of real growth, namely, that the regulations issued by the Board of Natural Sciences Studies {must be very mutable, and continually need revision. As to the argument for human anatomy as such receiving a prominent place in a tripos, Mr. Hill- house says it rests on the fallacy that men are likely to study a subject with more interest if it is made a subject of a tripos, than if it is included in the M.B. But, his experience is, the man who will not work for his M.B. will surely not work for his tripos; if anything, he will work better for M.B. than tripos. The University of London, having for a long time required all candidates for the degree of B.Sc. to pass in elementary mathematics, physics, geology, paleontology, and the other biological sciences, as well as logic, has now reverted to the wiser plan of examining at its Ist B.Sc. in elementary mathematics, physics, inorganic chemistry, and elementary biology, and at the degree examination (for B.Sc.), giving the degree for passing in three out of nine divisions of sciences, so that a biological ‘student may, if he chooses, enter for a very clearly-detined examination in botany, zoology, and physiology. The Cam- bridge man will then soon prefer the B.Sc. Lond., with the subsequent possibility of a doctorship in science, given for thorough attainment in the special subject of his life-study and teaching, unless biology receives fair play at Cam- bridge. Why is it that Martin, Hartoz, Marshall,and Vines havetaken their D.Sc. (Lond.), to mention biologists only? it is surely not that they are devoted to examinations, but that Cambridge was not yet able to give them the distinc- tion in their chosen subjects which they were entitled to demand. Biology, worthy of the name, is still to a very considerable extent proscribed or suspected in Cam- bridge. In a future age how strange a survival of prejudice this will seem. G. T, BETTANY THE PLANETS OF THE SEASON SATURN WE recently called the attention of our astronomical readers to that noble planet, the captain of our celestial guard, those three that keep the mid-watch of the night in an imposing order that may not return for ages; at distances nearly equal, and in a line not widely ‘deviating from a great circle of the sphere. Saturn, the next in position, may now be the subject of a cursory notice. The aspect of this most interesting of the planets is at the present time singularly elegant and attractive. The relief, however, is delicate, and the details not conspicu- ‘ous ; but though the presentation may be less adapted for a close scrutiny than that of either the full opening or the evanescent phasis of the ring, its examination will not fail to reward the careful observer. Schréter had a true insight into the pervading charac- ter of the universe when he described it as uniform in plan, with an endless variety in detail. Such is evidently the case with the planetary system. We find everywhere arrangements in part closely parallel or even identical with those most familiar to us, in part so rapidly diver- gent that the connecting analogies are strained, and thin away, as it were, till the bond of union can be traced no longer. Saturn is a complete instance of this. The dependence on the great central ruler, the spherical form, the polar flattening, the rotation on an inclined axis, the accompaniment of an atmosphere—all corre- spond with our own; while the differences, not only in magnitude, but in density and the force of gravity, are so great that we cannot even guess at the component materials. We endeavoured lately to point out how © limited is our knowledge of Jupiter, though in various ways favourably circumstanced for observation; but on Saturn, with the exception of his change of seasons, we should find ourselves still greater strangers; and the terrestrial analogies that aided us so little there would here be of still less service. Every difficulty is magnified by the vast increase of distance and defalcation of light ; we can only record what we see, and much of that is neither familiar nor intelligible. ‘ It is easy, however, to perceive a strong general resem- blance between these two great globes, not only in gigantic dimensions, want of density, and velocity of rotation, but in various atmospheric characteristics, such as parallelism of direction (sometimes, according to Herschel I., not quite equatorial on Saturn), contrasted colouring, and the occasional formation of bright and obscure patches. And yet in one main feature there is a very marked dissimi- larity—the position of their axes. In this one point Saturn, after a decided interruption in the series, reverts to the type of the earth and Mars, And it is scarcely conceivable that the presence or absence of a change of seasons should not be strongly felt in its effects. One result, however, which might on a superficial view have been expected, is absent from Saturn. There is no luminous deposit around the poles, which, on the con- trary, are often more dusky than the equatorial regions, and this alone would infer a different atmospheric consti- tution from our own, even if we left out of sight the consideration that such might well be expected when the subjacent materials are as light as cork, and the whole globe would float high out of water. But for this curious deviation from regular sequence—a kind of deviation so remarkable and so significant in the planetary system —we should have remarked as complete an analogy between Jupiter and Saturn as that which is believed to obtain between the Earth and Mars. The changes, however, in the atmosphere of Saturn are not usually so conspicuous as those on Jupiter; nor is this to be wondered at, when we consider its inferior brilliancy at a distance measured by hundreds of millions of miles. The equatorial zone is usually represented as of prominent and unvaried brightness, and the dusky belts differ much in depth and arrangement at different times. Luminous and dark patches, though not common, are far from being unknown. The white equatorial spot, resolving itself ultimately into a streak, which was ob- served by Hall in 1876, though not, as has been asserted, an unprecedented, was a very remarkable instance of the former class, as one perceived by Herschel I., ninety-six years before, had been of the latter. This dusky spot was situated near the limb, where on Jupiter it would presumably have been invisible; yet much could not be inferred from this solitary observation, nor from that of Chacornac on the transit of the largest satellite, which” showed a limb more luminous than the centre of the disk. Everything of this kind should be noted, but nothing. pressed into the service of a foregone theory. The flattening of the sphere at the equator, as well as 88 NATURE [Wov. 27, 1879 the poles, announced by Herschel I. as the result of many observations in 1805, has never been very satisfactorily explained. It might have been discarded as an illusion resulting from the crossing of the outlines of the globe and rings, had it not been confirmed by repeated measure- ment at the time. It is considered to have been subse- quently disproved by a repetition of that process in other hands ; but it does not appear that the latter measures were taken at a time when the alleged deception existed. An experiment might be tried of placing at a distance from the eye (or better, the telescope, to insure perfectly similar conditions) a transparency copied from Herschel’s figure, but with an elliptical, instead of “‘ square- shouldered,” outline ; but even if, under any varied illumination, the deception should recur, his measures would still have to be accounted for, which do not seem to have been affected by any imperfection in his micrometer. Part of Saturn’s ring as observed by Trouvelot with the 26-inch Washington refractor. But however this apparent anomaly may be disposed of, we are brought face to face, in the ring-system, with phe- nomena unexampled, as far as our sight can reach, though there may be thousands of them, and of still stranger thing, in the depths of infinity. The minor peculiarities of this complex arrangement are at present not readily traceable in so foreshortened a projection, and some of them would require instruments of great light and power ; but the gauzy portion of the slowly-opening ring is already within the reach of moderate apertures. On many accounts these marvellous features deserve an increasing degree of scrutiny as the opportunities for it are becom- ing more and more favourable ; and we may yet gain a further insight into their structure. Still we must not expect too much. Even should the bright rings be, according to the prevalent opinion, a closely-packed mass of satellites, we can hardly suppose it to be “ resolvable” with any future increase of optical power. Theory, indeed, pronounces against a solid or even fluid composi- tion ; but the confident application of theory may possibly prove hazardous where materials wholly unknown may be dominated by polar forces of unexplored intensity. It may, indeed, be still an open question whether the aspect of the dusky ring, especially as proje¢ted across the ball, can be reconciled with the idea of a thin and scattered stream of satellites,an idea that perhaps would never have occurred to any actual observer, and that seems only a theoretical consequence of the supposed constitution of the other rings. Many questions, in fact, remain open, in this system of wonders ; whether its general dimensions, or the proportions of its several parts, are unchangeable ; whether minor divisions can always, or ever, be estab- lished ; whether the gauze ring is distinctly separated from its neighbour; whether its colour is invariable; whether a similar material glazes over, so to speak, the great division of the two bright rings; whether any plausible explanation can ever be attempted of the extraordinary outlines of the shadow of the globe upon the outer ring, consistent with a thinness edgeways almost invisible. There may well be “more things” here “than are dreamt of in our philosophy.” And in respect of the general idea of possible changes, it is but fair to bear in mind that our knowledge of this planet is confined to a relatively short period, as compared with his annual revolution, Only some seven Saturnian summers and as many winters have been exercising their influence on that peculiarly delicate and complicated system since the first employment of telescopic investigation—far less time since the commencement of minute scrutiny. And in addition to this the excentricity of the orbit is sufficient to vary the amount of solar radiation at different periods of his year, much more than is the case with our own globe. It should not be forgotten, too, that the rotation of the ring has hitherto. been deduced from theory alone, and ought, if possible, to be determined by observation ; | though where Herschel I. has failed, and Bond has not succeeded, there may not be a very bright prospect for subsequent observers. The satellites are interesting in many respects; among others they afford a curious instance of the diversity of detail with unity of idea already alluded to. In our own case the attendant bears so large a proportion to its primary that Earth and Moon have been compared to a double planet. Next, in Mars, we find a ratio of the most opposite description. In Jupiter an intermediate proportion exists between the primary and secondaries, while the latter do not differ in magnitude very widely among themselves. In Saturn we have an extension and combination of the previous systems, not only in number but in character; extreme minuteness in several being found in juxtaposition with considerable bulk in one of theattendants. The striking irregularity of their sequence in point of magnitude is a fresh exemplification of the deviation from uniformity already referred to as so gene- rally, and indeed almost universally, observable in the solar system. It may be noted among the retinue of Jupiter, where the largest is not the outermost of the satellites ; but it is still more observable in the more complicated arrangement of the satellites of Saturn. The smallest in a general sense range nearest to the pri- mary, yet the largest is not the most distant; and next in position to him comes the most minute of all. On the same principle it is highly unlikely that the regular pro- gression I, 2, 4, 8 should express the real number of the satellites attending respectively on the Earth, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn. More, probably, own the control of the latter, and may be reserved as a triumph for Mr. Common’s magnificent 37-inch mirror which the spirited possessor fully deseryes. The well-known fact that the difficulty in detecting objects of this nature diminishes as they become more familiar, is well exemplified in these minute points. Enceladus, once considered as suitable only for great te i a. (te aie * Nov. 27, 1879] apertures, has been several times seen by Franks with a 5-inch object-glass ; my less acute vision with 93 inches of a silvered mirror distinguished it in 1878, not readily, indeed, but quite certainly, in the absence of the primary from the field. The variable light of the outermost, Japetus, in different parts of his orbit, has long been known, and might have been readily explained by a synchronism of rotation and revolution, but for superinduced irregularities similar to those of the satellites of Jupiter, and probably depending upon a similar cause. Schréter detected differences of brightness in some of the others, on opposite sides of the planet; but the subject deserves a fuller investigation. : T. W. WEBB NOTES WE record with deep regret the death of John[{Allan Broun, F.R.S., on Saturday last, at the age of sixty-two years. Mr. Broun was many years in India, as Director of the Observatory of the Maharajah of Travancore, and has been resident in London for the last six years. We hope next week to give details of Mr. Broun’s life and the valuable services he has rendered to meteorology. WE regret to learn that Prof. A. H. Sayce is compelled to spend the winter in Egypt on account of his health. We trust his sojourn on so congenial a soil will quite re-establish him, A MARBLE medallion of Father Secchi has been placed in front of the Stilvio Observatory, 2,543 metres above the level of the sea. The observatory owes its establishment to him, THE Swedish Academy of Sciences has appointed Dr, B. V. Wittrock, the celebrated algologist, to be keeper of the botanical department of the Swedish State Museum, in succession to Prof. N, J. Andersson, who has retired in consequence of the bad state of his health, THE works for creating an astronomical observatory on the top of Etna were progressing favourably, but have been arrested for some months owing to the state of the weather. The central iron cupola and the telescope would have been placed this year if the operation had not been prevented by the large quantity of snow which fell prematurely on the mountain, This establish- ment is unrivalled for its position under an admirable sky, and will be placed on an immense natural platform situated at an altitude of 3,000 metres above the sea, The central crater has an elevation of 350 metres, and the observatory has been built at its very foot. An hotel is also being built, where twenty persons can find board during fine weather. THE Municipal Council of Lyons, after a protracted discus- sion, has voted a credit for raising a statue to Ampére, who was, with Arago, the inventor of the electro-magnet. Ampére was a Cathol.c, and the son of a magistrate who had been beheaded at Lyons after the great revolution of 1793. The elder Ampére had written ihe charge against Challier the Aontagnard, whose death caused the breaking out of civil war and the shedding of the blood which deluged Lyons during so many months. THE death is announced of the eminent physicist, Friedrich yon Ewald. He died at St. Petersburg on October 16 last, at the age of sixty-six years. He was for many years instructor to the Czarewitch, FRIENDS and admirers of the late Herr Theodor Heuglin, the well-known African traveller, have erected a monument to his memory in the Prager Cemetery, at Stuttgart ; it consists of a large erratic block from Upper Suabia, adorned with the medal- lion portrait of thedeceased. Prof. Kopff, of Baden Baden, was the sculptor of the medallion. The monument was unveiled a few days ago, THE death is announced of Mr. Serjeant Cox, on Monday, in his seventieth year. Mr. Cox was known as the author of several works in physiological psychology, written mainly from a spiritualistic point of view. At Hamburg, the resolution has been passed to erect a new Natural History Museum, for which the sum of 1,000,000 marks (50,000/.) will be expended. It appears that through the great marine trade of the city, its rich natural history collec- tions are rapidly increasing year by year. Up to the present not one half of these collections could be properly exhibited to the public for want of space, All this will be changed when the new building is completed, A CATALOGUE of scientific serials, from 1633 to 1876, has been recently prepared by Mr. Samuel H. Scudder, assistant- librarian at Harvard College Library, and under the auspices of that library, which has met the expense of publication, with the expectation that the demand for the volume will refund the outlay, and with the promise that, if so far remunerated, this shall be the beginning of a series of ‘‘works such as may be properly undertaken by a public library, and do not offer induce- ment for commercial speculation.” The catalogue embraces the transactions and bulletins or proceedings of learned societies in the natural, physical, and mathematical sciences of all countries, as well as independent journals. It is the result of a large amount of painstaking labour and should prove an invaluable companion to those engaged in research, or otherwise interested in the progress of science. FEw local natural history societies can show a better record of work done than the Torrey Botanical Club, the Bulletin of which is published monthly or bi-monthly. In addition to records of localities and descriptive articles of local and geogra- phical interest, the pages of this publication not unfrequently contain contributions of sterling value on important points of morphology and physiology. Articles of this character in the numbers which have recently reached us are ‘‘ Notes on the Relative Age and Dimensions of a Number of Different Trees,” by N. L, Britton, and ‘‘ A Few Notes on the Abnormal Absence of Colour in Plants,”’ by A. Hollick. Ir is intended to erect a statue at Hanover in memory of the late eminent technologist, Karmarsch, THE recent Hungarian earthquakes were coupled with pheno- mena of a most remarkable nature. The Jarge island in the Danube near Old Moldowa was completely cleft in two by one of the shocks, From the chasm thus formed a gigantic column of water shot forth partly flooding the island. On October 18 the giant fountain suddenly ceased to flow, but numerous funnel- shaped craters had formed from which black sand and clay were ejected, Near Weisskirchen the old ruins of the Castle of Golubacz have fallen in completely, and in the vicinity several caves were rendered inaccessible. These caves were the breed- ing places of the dreaded Kolumbacs mosquitos, and if this insect is thus exterminated the earthquake may, with all the damage it did, have yet beenof some use. Another smart shock was felt at Temesvar on Friday morning last. A violent earth- quake is reported from Iceland, It occurred on September 24 last and is ascribed to volcanic eruptions in the Krisuvik moun- tains, a locality where eruptions have not been known within the memory of the present generation. RupoLr FAB has written from San Francisco to German friends to inform them that a monument in Bolivia much more ancient than the times of the Incas has given him a clue to the origin and development of speech and writing. He is apparently inclined to recur to the Semitic hypothesis. AT the opening meeting, last week, of the Society of Arts the following prizes were awarded :—The Gold Medal, offered for the best means of saving life at sea, to Messrs. J. and A, W. 90 NATURE [WVov. 27, 1879 Birt, ‘‘ for the collection of buoyant articles sent in by them ;” the Society’s Silver Medal, to Mr. Herbert Singer, for his “‘Essay on the Art of the Silversmith;” to Mr. F. Toplis and to Mr, Joseph Lucas, for their papers containing ‘‘ Suggestions as to the best Means of dividing England and Wales into Districts for the Supply of Pure Water;” to Mr, Alfred Haviland, M.R.C.S., for his paper on ‘‘The Distribution of Disease popularly considered ;” to Mr. John Hollway, for his paper on “A New Application of a Process of Rapid Oxidation, by which ‘Sulphides are utilised as Fuel;” to Mr, Conrad W. Cooke, for his paper on “ Edison’s Loud-Speaking Telephone ; ” to Mr. Thomas Wardle, for his paper on ‘‘ The Wild Silks of India, principally Tusser ;” to Dr. William Wallace, F.R.S.E., for his paper on ‘‘ Gas Illumination,” THE second part of vol. xxiv. of the ‘*‘ Mémoires de Ja Soc. de Physique et l’Histoire Naturelle de la Genéve” has just appeared. It contains :—Report of the President to December 31, 1878, by Prof, E. Wartmann; Researches, on the Fecundation and the ‘Commencement of Henogeny among Various Animals, by M. Hermann Fol; On the Genus Hemimerus, Wolk., apparently furnishing a new order in the class of Hexapods, by M. H. de Saussure ; Description of a New Species of Trygonid belonging to the genus Pteroplatea, by M. Godefroi Lunel ; Comparative Anatomy of the Leaves in some families of Dicotyledons, by M. Casimir de Candolle. In reference to an article in the G/oJe on Sapphires in Siam, Mr, Bryce-Weight writes to that paper that through one of the ‘Siamese princes in England he has learned that there are several sapphire mines in Siam, on the sea coast, with thousands of people at work, valuable gems having been found and sold at a good profit. ‘ IN the beginning of October there was discovered, at about a kilometre from Guisseny, under a mass of rocks, a cavern fifteen metres long by four broad. This cave has two open- ings, one towards and about four metres above the sea, the other towards the land, The cavern was found, throughout its length covered with a bed of ashes and charcoal about two centimetres ’ thick. Underneath this was found a sort of dry stone masonry, then human bones, remains of cinerary urns, evidently of ‘‘ Celtic” origin, and a considerable quantity of bones of mammals. Among the latter are some which do not appear to belong to contemporary fauna, Finally, a stone hammer and a sharp, polished axe of porphyry appear to show that this cayern is a sepulchral grotto of prehistoric times. A SECOND enlarged edition is announced by Mayer, of Cologne and Leipzig, of Sonnenschmidt’s ‘‘ Kosmologie,” the history and development of the universe on the basis of the most recent scientific researches. TRE Fournal of Applied Science draws attention to the sub. stitution of paper for wood in Germany in the manufacture of jead-pencils. It is steeped in an adhesive liquid and rolled round the core of lead to the required thickness. After drying, it is coloured to resemble an ordinary cedar pencil. The pencils sell in London to retailers at about 3s. a gross, AT the first meeting of the Statistical Society, on the 18th inst., the President, Mr. Brassey, presented the Howard Medal and 20/. to Miss Beatrice A. Jourdan, as the writer of the best essay ‘‘On the Improvements that have taken place in the Education of Children and Young Persons during the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries,” The President announced as the subject of the essay of next year, ‘‘The Oriental Plague, in its Social, Economical, Political, and International Relations.” THE long pending telephone litigation in the United States has at last been settled by a compromise which leaves Prof. Bell master of the field. The National Bell Telephone Company have bought up the conflicting rights, and acquired all the tele- phonic inventions of Elisha Gray, of Mr. Edison, and of Mr. G, M. Phelps. The Western Union Telegraph Company, however, is to be licensed to convey telephonic messages, while the right to establish telephone exchange systems is to remain exclusively with the Bell Company. The shares of the National Bell Tele- phone Company are now quoted at 700 per cent. THE multiplication of the correct time by electricity, as inaugurated by Leverrier, is now organised at Paris, on an immense scale, by the Municipal Council. A length of 15,000 metres of tubes is placed alongside the Boulevards and the principal streets, where a large number of dials will mark the time during day and night. Private clocks will be kept to time on payment of a small fee. A COMPETITIVE experiment took place on September 19 in the green-room of the Grand Opera of Paris, on the respec- tive illuminating power of Jablochkoff candles and Werder- mann lights, The Werdermann light was found most steady, and the Jablochkoff most powerful. The experiments will be continued next week before the public, and a final resolution will be taken afterwards, The President of the Republic and the Minister of Fine Arts are represented. On November 11 a stream of falling stars was observed, at nine o’clock, at Chatelherault, when the sky was exceptionally clear. A coursE of six evening lectures on Photography will be given at the Sorbonne every Thursday evening by M. Dayanne, President of the .Photographic Society of Paris, with experi- ments. These lectures are organised by the Scientific Associa- tion of France, presided over by M, Milne Edwards, The ordinary evening lectures will begin only in January. THE second French Atlantic cable has been successfully laid down from Brest to the American shores, through the Scilly Islands and Newfoundland. Congratulatory messages have been exchanged between the Presidents of both Republics. PHOTOGRAPHERS, professional and amateur, will, we believe, derive much assistance from the ‘‘ Photographic Printer’s Assist- ant,” by Mr. W. Heighway, just published by Richardson and Best. The directions given are such as have been found suc- cessful in actual practice. M. Cuarcot, the chief physician of Salpetritre, opened, three years ago, a course of lectures on nervous affections, annexed to his clinic. The number of persons asking for admission has been so considerable that the administration of Public Assistance has built an amphitheatre with 500 seats in the hospital. The lectures, which are delivered every Sunday, were begun on November 16, before a full house. The amphitheatre was fitted up with an Alliance Magneto-electric machine, worked by the steam-engine of the washing-house. In each lecture a number of patients are introduced on the platform illustrating the theories of the lecturer, and many photographs are projected on the screen by electricity. In the lecture of November 23 the lecturer projected two engravings reproduced from Montgeron, an author of the beginning of the eighteenth century, who advocated the genuineness of miracles executed on the grave-stone of Diacre Paris. One of these represented a young lady who had been declared by the doctors of the age to be incurable of club-foot, and the other engraving the same person after having been cured ina trance. These two figures were engraved .and pub- lished by Montgeron as exhibiting a case of supernatural agency. M. Charcot proved they were analogous to several of the cases which had been presented to his audience and could be cured by the same process, Nov. 27, 1879] NATURE or Dr. RICHARDSON asks us to say that in his article on Fleuss’s New System of Diving in last number, p. 63, col. 2, 25th line from bottom, ‘‘fully seven minutes” should be ‘‘ forty-seven minutes.” THE additions to the Zoological Society’s Gardens during the past week include a Yellow Baboon (Cynocephalus babouin) from West Africa, presented by Mr. Cecil B. Hankey ; a Col- lared Peccary (Dicotyles tajacu) from South America, two Domestic Sheep (Ov#s aries), presented by Mr. H. Sandbach; a Little Grebe (Podiceps minor), British, presented by Mr. A- F. Buxton; a South American Rat Snake (Spilotes variadilis) from South America, presented by Mr. Thomas Harrod ; two Geoffroy’s Cats (Felis gecoffroii) from Paraguay, two Barbary Falcons (Falco barbarus) from North Africa, a Red-throated Diver (Colymbus septentrionalis), British ; a Common Curlew (Numenius arquata), European, deposited; two Common Tiskins (Chrysomitris spinus), a Reed Bunting (Zméeriza schenichus), a Pied Wagtail (AJotactl/a yarrelli), British, pur- chased ; a Gaimard’s Rat Kangaroo (Ayfsifrymnus gaimardi), two Smooth Snakes (Coronella /evis), born in the Gardens. OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN THE ‘‘URANOMETRIA ARGENTINA.”’—The publication of this great and meritorious work is just announced, though, so far as we know, the complete volume has not yet reached Europe. The system of observations upon which it is based was designed and commenced by Dr. B. A. Gould, the distin- guished director of the Argentine Observatory, immediately after his arrival at Cordoba in September, 1870, on accepting the superintendence of the new establishment, and while awaiting the completion of the observatory buildings and the arrival of telescopes which had been ordered in Europe, but delayed by the outbreak of the Franco-German war, and the work upon it has been continued with more or less attention to the present year. It was intended to represent in a series of charts and accompanying catalogue the sky from the south pole as far as 10° north of the equator, as it appears to the naked eye, showing all stars down to a round magnitude fixed at 70, with their characteristics of duplicity, variability, and colour, and the milky-way in all its ramifications and gradations of brightness. The actual observations were assigned to the four assistants, Messrs. Rock, Davis, Hathaway, and Thome, who had pro- ceeded to Cordoba from the United States, the first three re- turning home at the expiration of three years, when the Urano- metry was already finished as to its general details. Mr. Thome subsequently reviewed the entire work twice, and with the result that Dr. Gould considers it improbable that any star so bright as 7°0, on a scale which it has been desired to extend accurately from Argelander’s, will have escaped insertion, while notwith- standing the great degree of nicety implied, he thinks the mag- nitudes are essentially correct to the nearest tenth. During the first two years the work was continued on all cloudless nights, both summer and winter, at an average of six hours’ work each night. The total number of stars of which the magnitudes have been assigned is 10,649, and the total estimates of magnitudes 44,510, or more than four for each star, With the view to having a uniform basis for estimates of magnitude throughout the whole heavens, Argelander’s magni- tudes for a region lying from 5° to 15° north of the equator, having the same meridian altitude at Bonn and Cordoba, were collected by classes, and ‘‘the stars of each class then assorted and shaded into the adjoining ones until a scale of tenths was formed.” . . ‘* The scale as finally adopted resulted from the accordant estimates of all four assistants for each tenth up to 7°0.” A ‘‘Type-belt Catalogue” of 722 stars was formed in this way, intended, as we have intimated, to serve as/a standard for all future determinations of magnitude, in whatever part of the heavens. All the stars occurring in the ‘* Uranometria” have been observed for accurate position at least four times with the meridian circle, and a general catalogue will appear in due course, The charts are thirteen in number, and an index-chart is added showing at once the whole extent of the Uranometry. The printing was effected by the photolithographic process, as the most accurate and least expensive. Photographic nega- tives of the manuscript charts were taken, thus permitting their exact transfer to the stones, The chief trouble experienced in the printing was to give the star-dots the proper blackness, and” yet to keep the milky-way within reasonable shade. In a special chapter, Dr. Gould collects all variable and’ suspected variable stars, with particulars, thus providing in- teresting work for those amateurs who can command the southern heavens, and work from which much may be learned. From a discussion of the general distribution of the stars throughout the sky, Dr. Gould is led to conclude that ‘‘there is: in the sky a girdle of bright stars, the medial line of which differs but little from a circle inclined to the Galactic circle by a little less than 20°. The grouping of the fixed stars brighter than 4°I is more symmetric relatively to that medial line than to the Galactic circle, and the abundance of bright stars in any region of the sky is greater as its distance therefrom is less. The known tendency to aggregation of faint stars towards the milky-way is according to a ratio which increases rapidly as their magnitudes decrease, and the law of which is such that the corresponding aggregation would be scarcely, if at all, per- ceptible for the bright stars,” These facts, Dr. Gould continues, indicate the existence of a small cluster, within which our own system is excentrically situated, but which is itself not far removed from the mean plane of the Galaxy; this cluster he considers to be of a flattened shape, somewhat bifid, and con- sisting of rather more than 400 stars, of an average magnitude of 3°6 or 3°7, but comprising stars from the first to the seventh, We have abridged these particulars from an interesting article on the ‘‘ Uranometria Argentina,” in the Buenos Ayres Standard. It is impossible to avoid expressing admiration for the scien- tific spirit and enlightenment of the Government of the Argentine Republic in providing means for the execution of this important work, the first astronomical contribution from their National Observatory, but, we believe, to be followed by others, for which materials are completing, and which, it cannot be doubted, under the superintendence of Dr. Gould, will collectively secure for the Observatory of Cordoba a high position in the history of astronomical establishments, and, in connection with other enter- prises of which we hear from time to time, for the comparatively small nation by which it is supported, the respect and good- wishes of the scientific world. THE ‘Lick OBSERVATORY,” CALIFORNIA.—From San Francisco we receive details of recent progress towards carrying out the intentions of the will of the late James Lick, who died October 1, 1877, bequeathing the sum of 700,000 dollars to trustees for the purpose of purchasing land and erecting upon it ‘a powerful telescope, superiortoand more powerful than any tele- scope everyet made, ” with an observatoryand otherappurtenances, to be conveyed eventually to “the Regents of the University of California.” The first site considered was at Lake Tahoe, but it was soon rejected; Mount St. Helena, at the intersection of Napa, Sanoma, and Lake counties, was then visited ; it is upwards of 4,300 feet high, and was known to have atmospherical condi- tions favourable for astronomical purposes. Mr. Lick spent one night upon its summit. Among other points visited was Mount Hamilton, the elevation of which is still greater, and Mr, Lick finding that its advantages, so far as known, were equal to those of the former mountain, finally determined upon Mount Hamilton as the site of his proposed observatory ; it is something less than fourteen miles east by south, from San José in Santa Clara county. A road to the summit twenty miles long was com- menced in 1875, and finished in December, 1876, at the expense of Mr. Lick, and surroundings to the extent of more than 1,500 acres were secured to form the observatory property. The site was thus, contrary to what has been generally stated, decided upon before Mr. Lick’s decease, and Prof. Newcomb had been asked to test the capabilities of the station, to obtain a guide as to the size and character of the instrument or instruments to be provided; Prof. Newcomb was too much engaged upon his official duties to undertake this work in 1877, and recommended application to be made to Mr, S. W. Burnham, of Chicago, who arranged last April to visit Mount Hamilton, with his own 6-inch. Alvan Clark refractor ; he arrived in the middle of August, and after spending thirty-two nights upon the mountain, up to September 27, all of which except five were extremely favourable, he appears to have agreed in‘opinion with Prof. Newcomb, who was able to visit Mount Hamilton early in October, that it is ‘the finest observing location in the United States,” With regard to the size of the great telescope to be 92 NATURE |Woo. 27, 1879 mounted there, much will probably depend upon the success attending the construction of the 30-inch refractor, which Alvan Clark and Sons have engaged to furnish for the Imperial Obser- vatory at Pulkowa, but the trustees purpose to secure a 12-inch to be used in the observation of the next transit of Venus, and to remain one of the permanent fixtures of the Observatory. San José is in about 121° 50’ west of Greenwich, and 37° 16'N. Of Mount Hamilton it is stated that, ‘although practically out of the coast range fog-belt, an occasional gale blows the mist across the Santa Clara Valley from two points— Monterey Bay and the Sand-hill Gap just south of the city. On extraordinary occasions this fog reaches the erest of Mount Hamilton, but ordinarily the sky is cloudless all summer.” The trustees have their work well in hand, though there remains much to be done before the whole design of the munificent founder of the observatory can be realised, It is intended that a meridian-circle, an instrument necessarily requiring consider- able time in its construction, and other accessories, shall be pro- vided in addition to the great telescope and the smaller equa- torial. If we are not mistaken, Mr. Burnham has added a number of new double-stars to our lists, from his tentative work with the 6-inch refractor on Mount Hamilton. GEOGRAPHICAL NOTES A RussIAN journal announces the early departure of a scien- tific expedition, under the direction of Lieut. Onatsevitch, to make hydrographic investigations in the Sea of Japan and the Sea of Okkotsk. One of M. Onatsevitch’s assistants, Ensign Heller, has already gone to Vladivostock in the cruiser Asve, taking with him numerous instruments with which the hydro- graphic department has equipped the expedition, M, Lanevsky Volk and four other naval officers will accompany M. Onatsevitch by way of Siberia. The object of this expedition is to fill lacunze in the works of Babkine, Bolchew, Staritsky, Yelagnine, and others. It will have to explore, especially from the hydro- graphic point of view, the mouths of rivers which fall into the Sea of Japan, from the southern frontier of Russia to the Bay of Castries. It will make geodetic observations in the south- west part of Peter the Great Bay and at the mouth of the Amour. Lastly, it will study the water-courses, and the east and south parts of the Isle of Sakhaline, the district of La Perouse, &c. AT the meeting of the Geographical Society on Monday evening the secretary read a paper by Capt. A. H. Markham on the Arctic campaign of 1879 in the Barents Sea. The title of the paper, however, is somewhat of a misnomer, as the narrative was chiefly confined to the proceedings of the /sbjérn, to which we have already referred. Some few details were also furnished as to the trip of the second Dutch expedition in the W2llem Barents. Among the various matters of interest dealt with, perhaps one of the most interesting was the description of a large glacier on one part of the coast of Novaya Zemlya. This glacier Capt. Markham ascended, and walked along it for some two or three miles into the interior; he found numerous fissures in it, at the bottom of which ran rivulets, and some of which were so deep and wide that they could not be crossed except by making along déour. During the trip a considerable amount of infor- mation was gained in regard to the movements of the ice in the Barents Sea, and the best season for future attempts at explora- tion, especially in the direction of Franz Joseph Land; it was made quite clear, however, that a larger vessel and the aid of steam are absolutely necessary to secure really useful results. Wiru reference to the discovery of the sources of the Niger, it is stated that MM. Zweifel and Moustier traversed the Hokko and Limbah countries, which, covered with forests on Winwood Reade’s visit ten years ago, was now found very little wooded, the demand for the oily almonds of the palm tree having induced the natives to plant oil palms in the place of forests. A Koranks mission told the explorers that the Niger passed between Mount Lomat and another mountain, and that its three _ sources, the junction of which formed a small lake, were two days’ march from the latter, After many dangers and privations, the travellers found the main source near the village of Koulaks, on the frontier of Koranks, Kissi, and Kono, its native name being the Tembi. The trayellers could not enter the Sangara country on the right bank of the river ; but they are confident that the Tembi is the longest of the three streams mentioned by the Koranks, and consequently the origin of the Joliba or Upper Niger. _ M. DE Lesseps is to leave in a few days for Central America, in order to survey the concession granted by the Columbian Government for a sum of 750,000 francs, which was paid a few months since, Thesurveying within a éertain time is an obliga- tion which, not being complied with, would render the concession void. The promoter of the new canal took leave of the Geogra- phical Society of Paris on November 21. A DIscussION has been raised before the Geographical Society of Paris by the alleged discovery of the source of the Niger by two Frenchmen, commercial travellers, as referred to last week. THE Freie Deutsche Hochstift at Frankfurt has received further news from Dr. Gerhard Rohlfs and his travelling com- panion Dr. Stecker, according to which the two travellers were already on a steamer sailing for Malta. Herr Rohlfs is said to © be so exhausted that he intends to abstain from any further African exploring expeditions, Amongst the objects which the travellers were robbed of are all their diaries, notes, and scien- tific instruments, besides the rich collection of presents sent by the Emperor of Germany to the Sultan of Wadai. No. 10 of Band xxii. of the AZittheilungen of the Vienna Geographical Society, contains papers on the Ethnological Con- ditions of South Russia at their chief epochs, from the earliest times to the first appearance of the Sclavs, by Dr. Jar. Vlach ; the Mississippi and its Basin, by Dr, Hesse- Wartegg ; the district of Shushu, in Transcaucasia, by Carla Serena. Among the notes is a valuable statistical and geographical account of the Vilayet of Trebizond, from an Austrian Consular Report, As a supplement to the A/ittheilungen is announced a Zeitschrift fiir wissenschaftliche Geographie, edited by Julius Iwan Kettler, assisted by a staff of eminent German geographers. This journal will embrace all departments of mathematical, physical, commercial, ethnological, descriptive, and historical geography ; and promises to prove one of the most valuable geographical journals published, It will be issued every two months. Carr. HowcarTe has published a neat little volume on the cruise of the /Yovence in the preliminary Arctic Expedition of 1877-8. He gives many interesting notes made during the wintering in Cumberland Gulf, both of the country and people. The scientific results have been published separately, and these we shall notice in detail. THE Cage Argus announces the starting in October of an African Expedition from the Cape, under, and at the expense of, two young Englishmen, Messrs. Beaver and Bagot. They have only two bullock waggons and a few blacks, but their ambitious programme is to make a ‘* General and Astronomical” survey of the whole region between the Zambesi and the Albert and Victoria Nyanzas. This region is ignorantly described in the Argus as being almost totally unexplored. The two light- hearted young Englishmen allow themselves four years to accom- plish their gigantic undertaking. We shall watch their progress with curiosity. They are stated to have had an interview with the Geographical Society before leaving; the officials of the Society, we believe, are not able to recall the incident. In a letter to M. Sibiriakoff, Prof. Nordenskjéld expresses his intention of undertaking another voyage to the northern coast of Asia as soon as circumstances permit. ‘‘ After my return,” he says, “I think of spending a year on preparing an account of the voyage of the Vega, and it is my desire then to continue the exploration of the Icy Ocean along the coast of Siberia, making the River Lena the point of departure, and the New Siberian Isles the basis of operations. For the object I have proposed to myself—namely, the rendering of the northern part of Asia completely accessible to commercial shipping—the prosecution of these researches is of paramount importance.” A TELEGRAM to the Moscow News, dated Katt Koorgan, November 14, gives the latest intelligence received from_the Russian scientific expedition appointed to explore the Oxus or Amu Darya, and report on the best route for a great Central Asian railway. On October 19 the members met the Khan of Khiva, who said he would give orders in due time for the demolition of the dams at Bant and Shamurat. The eldest men among the Yomouds and Tschenderen pledged themselves to procure labourers for the purpose of cleaning out the bed of the Usboi between Sary Kamysch and the Caspian Sea. THE death is announced of the Dutch lieutenant, Koolemans Beynen, who accompanied Sir Allen Young in his two Pandora voyages, and last year was second in command of the Dutch | Now. 27, 1879] NATURE 93 Arctic expedition in the Willem Barents, He edited for the Hakluyt Society an account of the three voyages of William Barents, A daily contemporary confounded Lieut. Beynen with the well-known Arctic explorer, Lieut. Payer, who, we are glad to say, is alive and as well as ever. RECENT advices from Japan state that the port of Gensan in Corea has been opened to Japanese traders, The Japanese, however, appear to have been more anxious to obtain the opening of Nikawa, a more important place, and about nineteen miles from the capital, Hanyang (Séoul), The Coreans refused to concede this point, probably on account of a sacred character attaching to the road which separates the two. BIOLOGICAL NOTES Oospores oF ‘Vortvox minor.”—Dr. Kirchner, in the recent part of Cohn’s ‘‘Beitrage zur Biologie der Pflanzen,” describes the germination of the oospores, and in this supple- ments the important contribution made by Cohn himself to our knowledge of this interesting plant in the first volume of the same work. The first appearance of germination was in Feb- ruary. The contents of the oospores during a rapid swelling out of the endospore, made their appearance through the rup- tured exospore, and soon presented a sphere-shaped body, which then divided into two portions, these being perpendicular to one another. The newly-formed cells so separate from one another that they hang together by their ends. These ends form the one pole of the later-to-be-developed ball-like colony; the other pole is afterwards closed in, when the maximum of the cells is attained. Each oospore thus gives rise through cell division, followed by the characteristic cell displacement, to a new volvox colony. The fact of V. minor being dicecious was given as a character to distinguish it from V. glodator, but this, according to the author, does not hold true; both colonies seem to pass through a purely female stage and afterwards through a male stage, each colony being bi-sexual. ® CEDAR oF LEBANON IN Cyprus.—Sir Samuel Baker, in his late residence in this island, has been fortunate in bringing to light the existence of this tree, or a variety of it, according to Sir J. D. Hooker, It seems the monks of Trooditissa Monastery assured the former that the ‘‘ chittim-wood ” of Scripture, a kind of pine, grew in the mountains near Krysokus. Trusty messengers having been despatched in search thereof, they brought back specimens of a cedar, with dense foliage and a superior quality of wood. Sir J. Hooker, to whom the speci- mens were forwarded, after a careful examination, finds that this tree differs from the true cedar of Lebanon in having shorter leaves and smaller female cones, with other slight differentia- tions. He names it, therefore, Cedrus libanti, var. brevifolia, a short botanical account of which, along with Sir Samuel’s letter, he laid before the Linnean Society at their last meeting. In his letter Sir S. Baker further hints that a variety of cypress some thirty feet high and seven feet girth, with a cedar-coloured wood, and powerfully aromatic scent of sandal-wood, in his opinion, is the celebrated ‘‘ chittim-wood.” He asks: ‘* Why should Solomon have sent for cedar, which is so common in Asia Minor?” Another hard-wooded cypress, of twenty feet high, yields an intensely hard wood resembling Lignum vita. New Genus oF MyriApop.—In the October number of the American Naturalist Mr, J. A. Ryder describes and figures a new genus allied to the little myriapod described some years since by Sir John Lubbock as Pauropus. This new American form is found in moist situations under sticks and decaying vegetable matter. It is called Zurypauropus spinosus, receiving its generic name in reference to its great relative width. The body is composed of six segments, possibly of seven, The head is partly free, the surface of the head and other segments is covered with small tubercles or spines, Two pairs of legs are attached to each of the second, third, fourth, and fifth segments, which, with a single pair on the first segment, makes nine pair inall. The legs are completely concealed in life by the lateral expansions of the body segments. The oral region seems to be very similar to that in Pauropus. There is no evidence of tracheal openings. Eyes seem to be absent. The antennz are five-jointed, inserted close together at the front of the head, and are branched. The outer branch bears two of the many-jointed filaments, between the bases of which arises a pedicel surmounted by an ovoid semi-transparent body with linear sepal-like pro- cesses clasping it much as in Pauropus pedunculatus, Thelength is one-twentieth of an inch, and the habitat Fairmount Park, Eastern Penna. ZosTERA MArinA.—A. Engler, in a recent number of the Botanische Zeitung (October 10), has published some interesting observations on the fertilisation and growth of the sea grass growing at Kiel. He pronounces Hofmeister’s observations on the fertilisation of Zostera as incorrect, but corroborates those of Clayaud (published in the Botanische Zeitung for August). At first it is true that the thread-like stigma lies on the neighbouring anther lobes, mostly those of two different anthers ; next the style elevates itself, and so the stigma comes out of the narrow slit in the sheath, and receives the pollen given out by some of the older spadices. After fertilisation, the thread-like stigmas disappear, and at the same moment will be found clusters of as yet unopened anthers around the stigmaless gyncecia, these now having fertilised ovules. This was probably the stage observed. by Hofmeister when he described the fertilisation as taking place inside the unopened inflorescence. Certainly the anther-lobes are not at this stage always emptied of their contents, and certainly when this emptying takes place the gyncecia are often beyond the power of being fertilised. Theconditions of the buds in Zostera also specially engaged Engler’s attention, because the sympodial bud system appeared similar to that in many of Aracee, The main shoot which roots in the mud develops out of the angle of the nodal scale like lower leaves, which,‘however, soon die off, sterile buds, and then after the formation of four to six internodes in the ground, grows upwards, now developing leaves often a metre long, but never in the same year is the inflorescence observed, The sterile sprouts are found to the right and to the left of the main shoot ; the upper internodes of this latter elongate and erect themselves, but now in the angles of the lower leaves are only fertile buds developed, which lie alternately right and left of the main axis, The first fertile bud is generally quite free, and carries three to four club-shaped bodies sympodially arranged as described by Eichler. The following fertile buds grow for a great while along with the main axis, the axis of growth thus presenting a flattened cone-shaped form with two furrows superimposed on a cylindrical axis. As to the inflorescence, Engler suggests that it is not impossible, but that the Gyncecia and Andrcecia may each represent separate flowers so arranged that male and female flowers of thes. mplest type shouid stand opposite to one another. This, though opposed to the views of Ascherson and Kichler, seems to have some support from the fact that in the case of Spathicarpa (‘‘ Flora Brasiliensis,” pl. 51), one:of the ;Aracez, this position of the male and female flowers occurs; only in this case, there can be no doubt of the fact, as there seems of necessity to be in Zostera, for the Androecia and Gyncecia are in Spathicarpa formed of several sexual leaves, Tue ONTOGENY AND PHYLOGENY OF THE CTENOPHORA.— Prof, Haeckel, in a recent number of Cosmos (vol. iii. Part 5, August, 1879), describes a new form which he calls Crenaria ctenophora, as a connecting-link between the Ctenophora and the Meduscee. This species is figured, but fuller details are promised in the author’s ‘System of the Medusz,” which, illustrated with forty plates, is nearly ready for publication. The new form is placed as a craspedote in the order of the Anthome- dusze, and in the family of the Cladonemidee, Accompanying a brief description, there is an interesting paragraph on the ‘‘ Ontogeny and Phylogeny of the Ctenophores.” It would seem highly probable that the Ctenophores are descended from the Cladone- midze, and that their still earlier ancestors were Hydrozoa allied to Tubularia, Among the newer adaptations, by means of which the Medusze form of the younger Ctenophore originated, the most important is undovbtedly the change in the method of loco- motion. The Medusze swim in a spasmodic manner by irregularly contracting their umbrellze, and then driving the water out of the cavity, The easy gliding, swimming movement of the Cteno- phorz is brought about by the vibrations of the little oar- blades which cross over the surface of the eight radial ciliated combs. While this newer form of motion took the place of -the former, a number of other changes were immediately brought about according to the laws regulating the correlation of organs. The more important morphological relations were nevertheless, through the conservative power of inheritance, preserved. This interesting form possesses the eight ad-radial thread-cell channels as in Ectopleura, the trichter as in Eleutheria, the oral formation as in Cyteis, the canal-formation as in Cladonema, and the tentacles and tentacular pockets as in Gemmaria; transitory between two classes, it furnishes a new convincing proof of the verity of the doctrines of development. 94 NATURE [Wov. 27, 1870 ARSENIC IN ANIMALS.—Prof. Ludwig has recently (Wiener Akad. Anz.) inquired into the distribution of arsenic in the animal organism after ingestion of arsenious acid. The objects he examined were the organs of suicides who had poisoned themselves with arsenic, and of dogs which were poisoned, some acutely, some chronically, with arsenic. In all experiments it was found that the arsenic accumulated most in the liver, and that in acute poisoning the kidneys also contained abundant arsenic, whereas in the bones and in the brain there was little of the poison. In case of chronic poisoning with arsenic, where death did not ensue, the poison was found to remain (after ingestion was stopped) longest in the liver, being much sooner excreted from the other organs. The results of this investigation are in direct opposition to those obtained by Scolosuboff, who always found most arsenic in the brain. DioprrRics OF THE Eye.—In the investigation of the dioptric properties of the crystalline lens of the eye, physio- logists have hitherto accepted an index of refraction of the lens determined for only one condition of accommoda- tion. It seemed desirable to Herr Matthiessen to attain greater accuracy by ascertaining the dioptric properties of the lens in different states of accommodation, the structure of the lens as now known being fully considered. The subject is discussed at length by him in Pfliiger’s Archiv (xix. p. 480). In tabular form he presents a comparison of the positions of the dioptric cardinal points for the human eye and for the eyes of several lower animals, corresponding to different states of ac- commodation, infinite distance 160 mm, and 100mm, A com- prehensive list of works on the dioptrics of the lens and the eye generally is added to Herr Matthiessen’s paper. EXPERIMENTAL DETERMINATION OF THE VELOCITY OF LIGHT? LET s, Fig 1, be a slit through which light passes, falling on R, a mirror free to rotate about an axis at right angles to the plane of the paper; L, a lens of great focal length, upon which the light falls, which is reflected from rk. Let M be a plane mirror, whose surface is perpendicular to the line R M, passing through the centres of R, L, and M, respec- tively. If ~ be so placed that an image of s is formed on the surface of M, then, this image acting as the object, its eee will be formed at s, and will coincide point for point with s, If, now, R be turned about the axis, so long as the light falls onthe lens, an image of the slit will still be formed on the surface of the mirror, though on a different part, and as long as the returning light falls on the lens, an image of this image will be formed at s, notwithstanding the change of position of the first image at M, This result, namely, the production of a stationary image of an image in motion, is absolutely necessary in this method of experiment. It was first accomplished by Foucault, and in a manner differing apparently but little from the foregoing. In this case, L, Fig. 2, served simply to form the image of Ss, at M; and M, the returning mirror, was spherical, the centre coinciding with the axis of R. Thelens, L, was placed as near as possible to R. The light forming the return image lasts, in this case, while the first image is sweeping over the face of the mirror, M, Hence the greater the distance, R M, the Jarger must be the mirror, in order that the same quantity of light may be preserved, and its dimensions would soon become inordinate. The difficulty was partly met by Foucault, by using five concave reflectors instead of one; but even then the greatest distance he found it practicable to use was only twenty meters, Returning to Fig, 1, suppose that R is in the principal focus of the lens, L; then if the plane mirror, mM, have the same diameter as the lens, the first or moving image will remain upon M as long as the axis of the pencil of light remains on the lens, and this will be the case no matter what the distance may be. When the rotation of the mirror, Rr, becomes sufficiently rapid, then the flashes of light which produce the second or stationary image become blended, so that the image appears to be continuous. But now it no longer coincides with the slit, but is deflected in the direction of the rotation, and through twice * By Albert A. Michelson, Master, U.S. Navy Read before the American Association. the angular distance described by the mirror, during the time required for light to travel twice the distance between the mirrors. The displacement is measured by its arc, or, rather, by its tangent. To make this as large “as possible, the distance between the mirrors, the radius, or distance from the revolving mirror to the slit, and the speed of rotation should be made as great as possible. The second condition conflicts with the first, for the ‘‘ radius ” is the difference between the distances of principal focus and the conjugate focus for the distant mirror, The greater the ‘“distance,” therefore, the smaller will be the ‘‘radius,” There Fic. 1 are two ways of solving the difficulty : first, by using a lens of great focal length, and, secondly, by placing the revolving mirror within the principal focus of the lens. Both means were employed. The focal length of the lens was 150 feet, and the mirror was placed about fifteen feet within the principal focus, A limit is soon reached, however, for the quantity of light received diminishes very rapidly as the revolving mirror ap- proaches the lens. The chief objection urged in reference to the experiments made by Foucault is that the deflection was too small to be measured with the required degree of accuracy. This de- ‘ Se IRR ag W Fic. 2. flection was but a fraction of a millimeter, and when it is added that the image is always more or less indistinct on account of atmospheric disturbances, as well as imperfec- tions of lenses and mirrors, it may well be questioned whether the results could be relied upon within less than one per cent. In the following experiments the distance between the mirrors was nearly 2,000 feet. The radius was about thirty feet, and the speed of the mirror was about 256 revolutions per second, The deflection exceeded 133 millimetres, being about 200 times that obtained by Foucault. If it were necessary it could be Fic. 3. still further increased. This ‘deflection was measured within three or four hundredths of a millimeter in each observation ; and it is safe to say that the result, so far as it is affected by this measurement, is correct to within one ten-thousandth part. The site selected for the experiments was a clear, almost level stretch along the north sea-wall of the Naval Academy. A frame building was erected at the western end of the line, a plan of which is represented in Fig. 3, ; The building was forty-five feet long and fourteen feet wide, and raised so that the line of light was about eleven feet above Nov, 27, 1879] the ground. A heliostat at H reflected the sun’s rays through the slit at s to the revolving mirror, R, thence through a hole in the shutter, through the lens, and to the distant mirror, The interior of the building was painted black. In a room under- neath the part, R, was the apparatus which supplied the air for turning the mirror. The heliostat was kindly furnished by Dr. Woodward, of the Army Medical Museum, and was a modification of Foucault’s ANT SS Fic. 4. form, designed by Keith. It was found to be easy of adjust- ment and quite accurate. The light was reflected from the heliostat to a plane mirror, M, Fig. 3, so that the former need not be disturbed after being once adjusted. The revolving mirror was made by Fauth & Co., of Washington. It consists of a cast-iron frame, Fig. 4, resting on three levelling MMe ee UHADUATHUNND tee Ts screws, one of which was connected by cords to the table at S, Fig. 3, so that the mirror could be inclined forward or back- ward while making the observations. Two binding screws, terminating in hardened steel conical sockets, hold the re- volving part. This consists of a steel axle, the pivots being hardened, expanding into a ring, which holds the mirror. The latter was a disc of plane glass, made by Alvan NATURE 95° Clark, about one and a quarter inch in diameter and o*2 inch thick. It was silvered on one side, the reflection taking place from the silvered side. A species of turbine wheel is held on the axle by friction, This wheel has six openings for the escape of air. The air entering on one side acquires a rotary motion in the box, carrying the wheel with it, and this motion is assisted by the reaction of the air in escaping. The disc above the mirror serves the purpose of bringing the centre of gravity in the axis of rotation. This was done, following Foucault’s plan, by allowing the pivots to rest on two inclined planes of glass, allowing the arrangement to come torest, and filing away the lowest part of the disc; then trying again, andso on, till it would rest in in- different equilibrium. The part corresponding to the disc in Foucault’s apparatus was furnished with three vertical screws, by moving which the axis of figure was brought into coincidence with the axis of rotation. This adjustment was very troublesome, and in this apparatus was found unnecessary. When the adjustment is perfect the apparatus revolves without giving any sound, and when this is attained the motion is regular and the speed great. A slight deviation causes a sound, due to the rattling of the pivots in the sockets, the speed is very much diminished, and the pivots commence to wear, In Foucault’s apparatus oil was furnished to the pivots, through small holes running through the screws, by pressure of acolumn of mercury, In this apparatus it was found sufficient, at high speed, to touch the pivots occa- sionally witha drop of oil. The quantity of air entering could be regulated by a valve, Fic. 6 to which was attached a cord leading to the table. The revolving mirror was mounted on a brick pier, The apparatus for measuring the deflection was made by Grunow, of New York. It consists of a screw, with divided circle, Fig. 5. To the frame is attached an adjustable slit. On the screw travels a carriage which supports the eyepiece, which consists of an achromatic lens, having in its focus at the end of the tube a single vertical silk fibre. Next the eye is a piece of plane glass, inclined at an angle of 45°. In measuring the deflection, the eyepiece is moved till the cross hair bisects the slit (with which it is nearly in the same plane), and the reading. of the scale and divided circle gives the position. This is made once for all, unless the slit be altered in width or position, Then the eyepiece is moved till the cross hair bisects the deflected image of the slit; the reading of scale and circle are again taken, and the difference in readings gives the deflection. The screw has no lost motion, so that readings may be taken with the screw turned in either direction. This apparatus is mounted on a standard with rack and pinion, and the base furnished with levelling screws. To regulate and measure the speed of rotation, a tuning-fork, bearing on one prong a steel mirror, was employed. This was kept in vibration by a current of electricity from five gravity cells. The fork was so placed that the light from the revolving mirror was reflected to the piece of plane glass in the eyepiece, thence reflected into the eye. When fork and revolving mirror are both at rest, the eye sees an image of the revolving mirror, 96 NATURE [Nov. 27, 1879 When the fork vibrates, this image is drawn out into a band of light. When the mirror commences to revolve, this band breaks up into a number of moving images of the mirror; and when, finally, the mirror makes as many turns as the fork makes vibra- tions, these images are reduced to one which is stationary. This is also the case when the number of turns is a sub-multiple. When it is 2 multiple, or a simple ratio, the only difference is that there will be more than one image. Hence, to make the mirror execute a given number of turns, all that is necessary is to pull the cord attached to the valve, to the right or left, till the images of the revolving mirror come to rest. The electric fork made about 128 vibrations per second. No dependence was placed upon this rate, however, but at each set of observations it is compared with a standard Ut, fork, the tem- pera‘ure being noted at the same time. In making the comparison the beats were counted for 60 seconds, It is interesting to note that the electric fork, as long as it remained untouched and at the same temperature, did not change its rate more than o’oI or 0’o2 vibration per second. Fig. 6 represents the table at which the observer sits. The light from the heliostat passes through the slit at s, goes to the revolving mirror, etc., and on its return forms an image of the slit at D, which is observed through the eyepiece. £ represents the electric fork, bearing the steel mirror, M; K, the standard fork on its resonator. The lens was made by Alvan Clark. It was 8 inches in dia- meter, focal length 150 feet, not achromatic. It was mounted in a wooden frame, placed on a support moving on a slide about 16 feet long, placed about 80 feet from the building, As the diameter of the lens was so small in comparison with its focal length, its want of achromatism was inappreciable. For the same reason the effect of ‘‘ parallax” was too small to be noticed, The stationary mirror was one of those used in taking photographs of the transit of Venus. It was about 7 inches in diameter, mounted in a brass frame capable of adjustment in a vertical and a horizontal plane by screw motion, Being pris- matic, it had to be silvered on the front surface. To facilitate adjustment, a small telescope furnished with cross hairs was attached to the mirror by a universal joint. The heavy frame was mounted on a brick pier, and the whole surrounded by a wooden case, to protect it from the sun, The adjustment was effected as follows :— A theodolite was placed at about 100 feet in front of the mirror, and the latter was moved about, till the observer at the theodolite saw the image of his glass reflected in the centre of the mirror, Then the telescope attached to the mirror was pointed at a mark on a piece of cardboard attached to the theodolite. ‘Thus, the axis of the telescope was placed at right angles to the surface of the mirror, The theodolite was then moyed to 1,000 feet, and, if found necessary, the adjustment repeated. Then the mirror was moved till its telescope pointed at the hole in the shutter of the building. The adjustment was completed by moving the mirror by signals, till the observer, looking through the hole in the shutter through a good spyglass, saw the image of the glass reflected centrally in the mirror. Notwithstanding the wooden case about the pier the mirror would change its position between morning and evening, so that the last adjustment had to be repeated before every series of experiments, (To be continued.) ON THE MOUNTAINS OF THE NORTHERN AND WESTERN FRONTIER OF INDIA* “THERE are certain moot questions relating to the mountains _ of the north-west frontier of India upon which it appears desirable to elicit the opinion of geographers. On this occasion I propose to discuss the western limits of the Himalaya; the northern and southern limits of the Hindu Kush; the parallelism and lateral communications of the ranges between the Hindu Kush and the Aralo-Caspian plain and of other parts of the north-west frontier; and the limits of the Iranian group of highlands, at its junction with the Tibeto-Himalayan and Pamir groups, Finally the proper route of a railway to India between Mesopotamia and the Indus is indicated along a remarkable line of elevated valleys parallel to the coast. x Paper read at the Sheffield meeting of the British Association by Trelawney W#Saunders. The Himalaya ranges form a part of the great girdle of mountains which continuously encircle the central portion of the Asiatic Continent, and include the Chinese colonial depend- encies of Ili, Mongolia, Kokonor, and Tibet. This vast mountain girdle is naturally grouped into four parts corresponding with the outlets of its exterior drainage according to their connection with the Arctic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans, and the Aralo-Caspian Seas respectively. These four divisions of the great mountain girdle have been named from their chief features, (1) the Tibeto-Himalayan, (2) the Yunling, (3) the Altaic, and (4) the Pamir systems. The interlacing or over- lapping of these systems at their junctions is not always easy to make out, and presents occasional difficulties like other systems of classification, no matter what the subject may be. The question of the western termination of the Himalaya relates to two divisions of the great girdle, namely, The Tibeto- Himalayan and the Pamir, to which must be added another group lying outside those two, but impinging on them at its north-east corner. This group is formed by the Iranian high- lands, a compact quadrilateral mass bounded by the lowlands of the Indus, the Arabian Sea and the Persian Gulf, the lowland of the Tigris and Euphrates, and the Aralo-Caspian plain. The only questions which can well arise with regard to the boundaries of the Iranian mountain ‘system, relate to its north-west and north-east angles, where it unites with the Tauric system on the one hand and the Himalaya and Pamir on the other. It is with the latter only that we propose to deal now. My Tibeto-Himalayan system was introduced in 1870 in “fA Sketch of the Mountains and River Basins of India in two Maps, with Explanatory Memoirs.” It was further developed in the Geographical Magazine, for July, 1877; and I am indebted to the distinguished chairman of this section for an appreciative account of it in two editions of his ‘‘ Memoirs of the Indian Surveys in 1871 and 1877.” It resolves the leading features of the vast mass of which it treats into four great chains with their outer slopes and intermediate valleys or plateaus. I am obliged to allude briefly to this bygone work, for the purpose of forming a logical basis for s:e argument which follows. The northern and southern Himalaya are two of these great chains. The Karakorum-Gangri and the Kuenlun are the other two. The Southern Himalaya rises from the great plain of India, and its culminating summit is distinguished by an extraordinary chain of snowy peaks throughout the whole extent which is claimed for it, The catenary and close succession of these snowy peaks cannot be denied, for they have been fixed in position and altitude by the indubitable observations of the great Trigono- metrical Survey of India. Nor can the existence be disputed of the line of valleys which forms the northern base of this snowy range and distinctly separates it from the Northern Himalaya, Yet an antiquated theory conceived before the existence of this snowy range was demonstrable, is still held to be possibly tenable” by the authors of the recently published manual of the Geology of India, although they do not condescend to any reason for their conclusion, Now this is not merely a matter of dispute between geologists and geographers, but it is one of the greatest practical imporlance with reference particularly to the potent question of lateral com- munications about which much has been said lately in reference to the Iranian system in Afghanistan. In the successive valleys following one after the other in the same line, each of which I have specifically named in the Geographical Magazine, there is indisputable evidence of the separation of the two ranges, and of that lateral communication which is an ordinary feature of mountain systems, rather than otherwise. The Northern Himalaya has its southern base in these valleys, while its northern base is found in the extended trough along which flows the upper courses of the great rivers Indus, Sutlej, and Sanpu. It is usually said that the Himalaya extends up to the gorge of the Indus on the west and to the gorge of the Sanpu on the east, and this is the extent assigned to the Himalaya by the authors of the ‘Manual of the Geology of India.” But this restriction falls short of the limits which we have already assigned to the Tibeto- Himalayan system, on the basis of the natural oceanic watersheds. It also falls short of the extension attributed to the Himalaya on the west by observers and geographers of celebrity ; and we shall endeavour to prove that it falls short, on the west at least, of the plain and simple application of the same conditions as those on which the Himalaya is allowed to extend up to the gorge of the Indus, wet ek ry Nov. 27, 1879] ‘The valley of the Upper Indus running from south-east to north-west, at the northern base of the Northern Himalaya, and between the Northern Himalaya and the Karakorum Mountains, is carried forward in the same direction by the valley of the Gilgit river up to Yassin, and thence over a relatively low water-parting into the upper valley of the Kunar river. Near the confluence of the Indus with the Gilgit, the Indus makes a rectangular bend on entering the gorge through which it intersects both ranges of the Himalaya to enter the plain of Peshawur. But the range of the Northern Himalaya which, it is allowed, dominates the left bank of the Indus as far as the gorge, does not cease there, but is continued across the Indus in the same direction as before, and proceeding westward forms the southern barrier of the Gilgit, Yassin, and Chitral valleys, until it meets the Hindu Kush on the west of the Kunar river. The separation of the Hindu Kush from the Himalaya will be discussed further on, The valleys of Gilgit, Yassin and Chitral, in which the base of the Northern Himalaya is found, are indeed a prolongation of the great trough which forms its northern base throughout. At the extremity of the Himalaya the Kunar river drives a passage through a gorge which remains unexplored, although it is pro- bably not less accessible than the gorge of the Indus with which we have only recently been made acquainted. Having now traced the Northern Himalaya up to the Hindu Kush, the continuation of the Southern Himalaya west of the gorge of the Indus remains to be made out. It is defined by a series of peaks fixed by the Trigonometrical Surveyors in a line from that gorge up to the southern end of the Kunar gorge. Beyond the Kunar, the line of peaks bulges southward and bends again northward following the base formed by the Kunar, the Kabul and the Panjshir valleys, till it meets the Hindu Kush. Like the rest of the peaks of the Southern Himalaya, the peaks west of the Indus form the culminating summits of the southern slope which ascends in unbroken continuity along the whole extent of the Indian lowland, from the eastern extremity of the valley of Assam to the plain of Peshawur, and the line of the Kabul river, Lieut, Wood, the explorer of the Oxus, who as surveyor accompanied Sir Alexander Burnes’ famous mission to Kabul, remarks that ‘‘ the Himalaya, as is well known, bounds Hindustan on the north, and after crossing the river Indus, extends westward to the valley of Panjshir.” The Trigono- metrical surveyors have since defined the exact position of the great peaks which mark the culminating summit of the range along its whole extent, At the present time, we have still to await the exploration of the high ground between the northern and southern ranges west of the Indus, There is little doubt that it will be found to correspond with the rest of the interval between the ranges throughout their extended course. f=, We may now turnto the Hindu Kush. The ends of the axis of the Hindu Kush are well defined as that axis is the water-parting between the basins of the Indus and the Oxus, Its southern base is to be sought in the same line of watercourses which define the northern base of the Northern Himalaya with the addition westward of the Ghorband valley, The known parts of this line include the Ghorband and Panjshir valleys, and the Upper Kunar in Chitral, It remains for future exploration in Kafiristan to trace out a line of lateral valleys serving to connect the Panjshir with the Upper Kunar, in order to coth- plete the line of contact and division between the Hindu Kush and the Northern Himalaya, The northern base of the Hindu Kush may be traced from Bamian along the Surkhab to its junction with the Anderab valley, from the head of which, I have little doubt, a line of lateral valleys will be found connecting Anderab with Kuran, Zebak, the Panja, and the Sarhad-wakhan or southernmost head of the Oxus The division between the Hindu Kush and the Himalaya is, so far as it goes, likewise the division between the Tibeto- Himalayan system and that of the Pamir. To complete the division of the latter systems we must find aline of watercourses from the Kunar river up tothe Tagh Dumbash Mountain, which marks the common termination of the Karakorum and the Hindu Kush; and from the Tagh Dumbash Mountain the dividing line of the two systems must be carried down to the plain of Varkand by an affluent of the Yarkand river. The Pamir group of mountains has the southern base of the Hindu Kush for a part of its southern limit. Its western base is in the plain of Gobi between the Yarkand and Kashgar rivers, Its northern base is in the plain of Kokand or Ferghana, watered by the Syr Daria or Jaxartes of the ancients. The NATURE 97 western base strikes southward along the foot of the mountains ; crosses the Zarafshan river and passes Bokhara ; after which the group bends round to the eastward and finds its southern base along the right bank of the Oxus, up to its outlet from the mountains ; then it follows the mountains crossed by the Lata- band Pass, to the Akserai or Surkhab river, which it ascends to Bamian and Ghorband, where the continuation of the southern base of the Pamir group is found in the southern base of the Hindu Kush, as already mentioned. We have heretofore defined the indisputable limits of the great quadrilateral Iranian group, and while the recollection of the limit of the Pamir along the course of the Surkhab or Akserai to Bamian and Ghorband, is fresh upon us, we will at once point to the same line as defining the separation and the contact of the Iranian and Pamir groups, From Ghorband by the line of the Kabul river to the Indus, is also traced, the separation and the contact of the Iranian with the Himalayan group. We cannot see that a more distinct or better limitation can be suggested for these important items of geographical nomen- clature, The principal ranges in the Pamir group are now fairly made out by British and Russian observers. The most easterly range is that of the Western Kuenlun, which rises in the plain of the Gobi above the cities of Yarkand and Kashgar, and culminates in snowy peaks, of which Togarmah is 25,500 feet in height above the sea, and Tash-balik is 22,500 feet. Westward of the Kuenlun range is the water-parting between the basins of Lake Lob and of the Oxus, a range which is in continuation with the Karakorum and Hindu Kush, and the meeting of the three is at Tagh Dumbash. This range was long since pointed out by that grand geographer Baron Humboldt, and was identified by him with the Bolor of Oriental writers. An attempt has been made by a mistaken Russian geologist and some of his followers, and also by a critic distinguished for another reason, todo away with this well established and distinctive name; but such a feature parting two famous river basins and connecting other great ranges cannot go unnamed ; and we contend that the name rendered classical by the labours of Alexander Humboldt, ought to be maintained. This Bolor range is separated from the Kuenlun by a series of valleys with streams that descend to the Gobi, including the Kizilyart Plain in the northern part, while in the southern part the repetition of the name Tagharmah is probably connected with the ancient Toghari, or Tochari. The Bolor range also forms the eastern limit of the Pamir or Roof of the World, a lofty plateau rich in summer pastures, drained by the Oxus and its affluents, and bounded on the west by another great range named Khoja Mohammed. If we compare this part of the Pamir system with the western Himalaya, a certain similarity will be observed. Thus the Upper Oxus between the Khoja Mohammed and Bolor ranges, flows at an altitude similar to that of the Upper Indus, between the Northern Himalaya and the Karakorum ranges, or about 10,000 feet.1 West of the Khoja Mohammed range, is the range crossed by the Lataband pass, the latter separating the lowland of Kunduz from the elevated valley of Lower Badakshan, just as the southern Himalaya separates the elevated valley‘of Kashmir, from the lowland of the Punjab. Lieut. Wood represented the Khoja Mohammed range as extending from the great bend of the Oxus to the Kokcha or river of Badakshan, and beyond that river in a south-westerly direction, that is, nearly parallel with the Hindu Kush. We shall consider its further extension presently. Similarly the Lataband range must be regarded as extending all along the Aralo Caspian plain from Kunduz to the Caspian Sea, and along the south of that sea to the Armenian plateau. Like the southern Himalaya it has its outer base in the great plain, but the inner base, has so far only been made out at intervals, and is an object that well deserves observation with reference to the existence of natural facilities for lateral communication along the side of the highland, , In pursuing this interesting subject we haye to point to two well determined parallel lines already set out forming}respectively the great waterparting and the base in the plains, The water- parting in question is formed in continuation of Karakorum westward, (1) by Hindu Kush, between the Oxus and Indus basins; (2) by Koh-i-Baba between the Oxus and Helmund basins ; (3) by Siah Koh between the Murghab and Helmund. We will not pursue the culminating line further at present, A succession or chain of lateral valleys follows we believe both sides of this summit, On the north side we follow the Upper 98 NATURE [Wov. 27, 1879 Oxus as far as it flows parallel with the Hindu Kush ; then cross over the pass of Ishkashm to the Upper Kokcha from which in all probability the Anderab valley is accessible, and also Bamian. From Bamian Capt. Conolly passed to the upper waters of the river of Balkh and thence into the valley of Hari Rud, which expands westward to the meridian of Herat. Between the meridian of Herat and Kabul, at least three lines of lateral communication are partially delineated. These are the parallel valleys of the Hari Rud, of the Murghab, and of the route traversed by Vambery, and the Russian officer Grodekov. Indeed it can be still further demonstrated that practical lateral communication exists throughout the whole length of the Iranian and Himalayan systems, and probably offers greater facilities of transit than the transverse routes. f On this point a few words appear to be called for, by the statements of a recent writer, a member of parliament, and formerly an Indian Governor of great distinction, who has denied the existence of lateral communication along and within the Suliman Mountains which form the easternmost part of the Iranian system and extend nearly from the Kabul River to _ the sea. So far from lateral communication being wanting in this locality, which is now of much importance on account of its being brought by treaty within the scope of British administra- tion—so far from the lateral communication being deficient and much less altogether absent—it constitutes as in the other mouutains which we have discussed, a characteristic and marked feature of them. Indeed the outermost slope or scarp of the eastern Suliman has been delineated like a rising series of parallel gutters, terraces, or troughs, in the beautiful maps of the Derajat prepared by the surveyors under the guidance of Major-General Sir Henry Thuillier, who for so long a time filled the office of Surveyor-General of India, and whose presence here is such an advantage to the section, In the heart of the mountains two lines of lateral communica- tion can be already traced, even with our present very scanty information. Both are on the east of the waterparting of the Helmund and Indus basins, which is formed by the western range of the Suliman. One skirts the very summits of the range and is formed at its northern limit by the uppermost valleys of the Kurram, west of the Peiwar Kotul. Itis watered by a stream which descends from near the Shutargarden Pass to the Kurram, where it meets another branch of the Kurram coming from the Mangal country on the south-western limits of the Kurram basin. From thence there is a communication with the district of Furmul which was known to the Turki Emperor, geographer, and con- queror of India—the famous Baber. Furmutl lies at the head of the Dawar valley and river, which descends from it straightway to the Indus, but has never yet been wholly traversed by Euro- peans. Furmul is occupied by the Karoti tribe of the famous Povindah merchants, unless the Waziri have driven them ont. From Furmul this lateral line passes on to the Dwa Gummul another haunt of the Karoti people, who, as Povindahs and periodical visitors and traders to India, should have a clear in- terest in being friendly with us. From the Dwa Gummul we pass on to a southern headwater of the Gummul, and so on to the head of the Zhob valley, which is connected with the Thal- Chotiali route to Peshin. There is another very important lateral line, a part of which was made known to Lieut. Broadfoot of the Royal Engineers as far back as 1842, by a native name, signifying ‘‘the road of the Waziri,” a dominant tribe in those parts. This also connects the Kurram valley with the Dawar and Gummul valleys; and it is prolonged from Gummul up to the Chotiali route, by the great Zhob valley, which has at least been distinctly seen from both ends, in a direction nearly meridianal. We all know the great road which has been traversed by British troops between Kabul, Ghazni, Kandahar, and Kelat, and eastward of this, on the western side of the western Suliman range, a route has been traversed from Zurmul to lake Abistada, and from the lake to Kelat, British troops have marched over the Toba highland. So much by way of proof of abundant lateral communication along the mountains west of the Indus. One word more relating to the lateral communication through the hills and valleys of the south slope of the great Iranian highland. For it relates to the construction in the near future of a railway to India. From sheer ignorance some haye pro- posed to carry such a line along the coast in a deadly climate with the atmosphere of a permanent hot bath. But the true route is found in one of those elongated lateral valleys which at a considerable elevation above the sea and ina better climate than that of the lowland on the coast, stretch all along from the Pubb river on the borders of India to, Mesopotamia. Among these is the line of the Kej valley and a succession of others leading to Shiraz, from whence there is little doubt that a practi- cal line may be found up to Bagdad, UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL INTELLIGENCE CAMBRIDGE.—The Professorship of Experimental Physics has been formally continued by the Senate, and there is now no doubt that if Lord Rayleigh is willing to undertake this onerous office, he will be elected Professor. A memorial requesting him to be a candidate signed by almost every elector in a very short time seems like a command, It shows that there is no fear, and every hope for a beneficial result to education following. Lord Rayleigh’s knowledge of the working of the University and the Scientific Commission will give him a most commanding posi- tion. Itisaclear ‘‘call” from the University when such men - as Adams, Besant, Cayley, Dewar, Ferrers, Frost, Garnett, J. W. Glaisher, Hughes, Liveing, R. K. Miller, Peile, Pendlebury, Routh, Salvin, Skeat, Stoke, James Stuart, Todhunter, Venn, James Ward, W. Aldis Wright and others unanimously record their view that it would tend greatly to the advance of physical science and to the advantage of the University that Lord Ray- leigh should occupy the chair of Experimental Physics at Cambridge. Messrs. C. W. Moule (Corpus) and S. H. Vines (Christ’s) have been appointed members of the Botanic Garden Syndicate tlll- November 20, 1882 ; Drs. Power and Phear have been appointed on the Museum and Lecture Rooms Syndicate; Mr. Henry Sedgwick and Mr. V. H. Stanton are again on the Local Ex-~ aminations Syndicate ; Messrs. W. D. Niven and G, H. Darwin » are appointed on the Observatory Sydicate; Messrs. Bradshaw, Bensly and Peile, and Dr, Hart and Mr. Aldis Wright are on ~ the University Press Syndicate; the two latter are special elec- tions in view of the publication of the Revised Translation of the Bible ; P. T, Main and F. M. Balfour on the State Medicine Syndicate. Mr. S. H. Vines is also appointed on the Natural Science Studies; and Dr. Paget has been elected on the Council of the Senate, as a Professor, in Prof. Maxwell’s place, for one year, and by only one vote over Prof. Stuart. Dr. Paget has on pre- vious occasions been unwilling to come forward for such an onerous post, and would hardly now have done so, but for the short term of office required, and the importance of the medical and natural science rearrangements at Cambridge demanding his aid if the University showed its confidence in him, An amended schedule for 2nd M.b. Camb. to come into operation in June, 1880, as far as regards comparative anatomy differs from that at present in force in introducing excretory and reproductive organs, as being required to be known in addition to the other principal systems ; the tapeworms parasitic in man, cockroach, fresh-water mussel, whiting, and rabbit are intro- duced, while the spider and the cockchafer, oyster, perch, and rat disappear. In the specification as to the vertebrate skeleton, the cod displaces the perch, the dog replaces the rat. These changes all seem to be in the direction of providing larger and more conspicuous and accessible specimens to be studied, or those more necessary for a medical student. SCIENTIFIC SERIALS Sournal of Botany, September, October, and November.— The last three numbers of this journal are mainly occupied with articles on descriptive and systematic botany, extracts, and re- views, with the exception of two, to which special attention may be called.—In the September number Mr, S. Le M. Moore has a ‘‘ preliminary notice” on mimicry. of seeds and fruits, and the functions of seminal appendages. He points out the number of seeds or fruits that bear a striking resemblance to coleopterous or other insects, by means of which he believes they may often escape from their seminivorous enemies by being passed over as insects, or, being picked up and thrown away by insectivorous birds, may thus become disseminated. He adduces striking in- stances of this mimicry in Polygalacez, Leguminose, Umbel- liferze, and especially Euphorbiaceze, in which the carunculus of the seed closely resembles the head of the insect, and the raphal line the line between the closed clytra, the seed being often besides symmetrically striped or spotted. The main object of the fleshy carunculus has been generally assumed to be the sup- plying of food to the young embryo; but this, Mr. Moore believes, is not confirmed by actual experiment. It also no doubt serves to attract seminivorous birds, through whose body the seed passes to be prepared for germination.—In the November number Mr. S. H. Vines has an article on alternation of genera- tions in Thallophytes, the main object of which, however, is to show that it does not exist, except in a very few cases. This is indeed in accordance with the general view of botanists. Mr. Vines still holds to his view that alternation of generations occurs in Characez ; though why he now returns to the very doubtful position which he had previously abandoned, that the ' Characec are Thallophytes, is not explained. Nuovo Giornale Botanico Italiano, October.—Sig. Borzi continues his series of papers on the morphology and biology of the Phycochromacez, the present portion being devoted to the structure and classification of the Scytonemacez, which he makes to consist of seven genera, viz., Coleodesmium, Bzi. ; Tolypothrix, Ktz.; Hilsea, Kirchn. ; Scytonema, Ktz. ; Stigonema, Ag.; Capsosira, Ktz.; and Hapalosiphon, Nag. The various modes of increase he defines to be (1) by pseudo- ramuli, or portions of filaments which deviate from the ordinary direction, heterocysts being sometimes interposed between these and the filament from which they spring ; (2) by spontaneous fraction of the filaments, the different portions remaining united in a bundle within a common gelatinous envelope, where they increase independently ; (3) by hormogonia, or fragments which become detached from the filament, and which move slowly in the water in a rectilinear direction, light exercising no influence on the movement; (4) by spores, or isolated cells capable of resisting cold and excessive drought. In the same number A. Bertolini describes a new disease of the cherry-laurel, caused by a parasitic fungus, to which he gives the name Oidium fasserinit, and which attacks the fruit. It makesits appearance in the form of irregular white spots, composed of filaments which invest the epicarp of the fruit, and from which rises a delicate down. The former is the mycelium of the fungus, the latter consists of the ovoid conidia arranged in moniliform filaments. THE Revue Internationale des Sciences (September) contains the following among other papers:—The plant and man in their reciprocal relations,- by Dr. Ernest Hallier.—On the geology of the Japanese Archipelago, by M. G. Maget. SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES LonpDoNn Royal Society, November 20.—‘‘ On Definite Integrals in- yolving Elliptic Functions.” By J. W. L. Glaisher, F.R.S. “*Values of the Theta and Zeta Functions for certain Values of the Argument.” By J. W. L. Glaisher, F.R.S. “On Certain Definite Integrals.” No. 5. By W. H. L. Russell, F.R.S. “*On the Action of Nuclei in Producing the Sudden Solidifi- cation of Supersaturated Solutions of Glauber’s Salt.” By Charles Tomlinson, F.R.S. “The Geometric Mean, in Vital and Social Statistics.” By Francis Galton, F.R.S., and Donald McAlister, B.A., B.Sc., Fellow of St. John’s College, Cambridge. ‘*On the Normal Paraffins. Part III.” By C. Schorlemmer. F.R.S., Professor of Organic Chemistry in Owens College, Manchester. Zoological Society, November 18.—Prof. Flower, F.R.S., president, in the chair.—An extract was read from a letter addressed to the Secretary by Mr. H. O. Forbes, on the subject of the distribution of the badger-headed Mydaus in Java.—The Secretary read an extract from a letter received from Dr. A. B. Meyer, in which the habitat of Cervus a/fredi was stated to be Samao and Leyte Islands, of the Philippine group.—Mr, Edward R.-Aiston exhibited some mammals collected by Mr. Wardlaw Ramsay, 67th Regiment, including examples of some species new to the faunas of Burma and Afghanistan,—Mr, Alston also exhibited one of the typical skulls of Zapirus dowi (Gill), which had been entrusted to him by the authorities of the U.S. National Museum. He remarked that the young tapir from Corinto, Nicaragua, which was formerly alive in the Society’s Gardens, was really an example of 7. dowi, and not, as had NATURE ii - 99 been hitherto supposed, of Z. Jdairdi.—Prof. Flower ex- hibited and made remarks upon the skull of a White Whale (Delphinopterus leucas), recently obtained in Sutherlandshire.— The Secretary exhibited on behalf of Mr. Rowland Ward, the head of a chamois, with two pairs of horns.—Communications were read from Mr, L. Taczanowski, C.M.Z.S., containing descriptions of a new Syxa//axis, from Peru, which he proposed to name Synallaxis fruticola ; and of a new Myiarchus, from the same country, proposed to be called AZ. cephalotes.—A third communication received from Mr. Taczanowski contained a notice of some birds of interest recently received from Turkestan. —A communication was read from Captain Shelley, containing an account of a collection of birds made in the Comoro Islands, received from Dr, Kirk, H.B.M. Consul-General at Zanzibar, The collection contained 186 specimens. A Zosterops which appeared to be new was named Z. Airkii, in acknowledgment of the assistance rendered to ornithology by Dr. Kirk.—A second paper by Captain Shelley, gave the description of two new species of African birds,—Lieut,-Col. H. H. Godwin-Austen, F.Z.S., read a description of the female of Lophophorus sclateri, Jerdon, from Eastern Assam.—A communication was read from Dr. Goodacre, F.Z.S., on the question of the identity of the common and Chinese geese.—A communication was read from the Rey. O. P. Cambridge, C.M.Z.S., on some new and rare spiders from New Zealand ; with characters of four new genera. —A communication was read on some African species of Lepi- doptera, belonging to the sub-family, Nymphaline, by Mr. W. L, Distant. In this paper several instances of great variation were given, and some corrections made in the nomenclature. A new genus, five new species, and the male of Ha/ma lucasi, Down, were also described.—Mr. R. G. Wardlaw Ramsay read the description of a new oriole, from ¢N. E. Borneo, which he proposed to call Oriolus consobrinus. Royal Microscopical Society, November 12.—Dr. Beale, F.R.S., in the chair.—Ten new Fellows were elected and eleven proposed for election at the next meeting. Prof, Weismann and others were elected Hon. Fellows.—A paper by Mr. H. E. Forrest, on the anatomy of Zeffodora hyalina, was read ; also papers by Mr. J. Fullagar, on a supposed new species of fresh- water Freia ; by Col. Woodward, on amplifiers and the use of chloride of cadmium and glycerine as a fluid for homogeneous immersion, and by Mr, J. Mayall, jun., on his immersion stage illuminator, which was exhibited to the meeting. Among the objects exhibited were anomalous forms of Acinefe, by Mr. Badcock, an improved micratome, by Mr. Ward ; various algze and infusorie, by Mr. Bolton, a new compressorium, by Mr. Graham, and Zeiss’s travelling-microscope, by Mr. Crisp. Anthropological Institute, November 11.—E. B. Tylor, F.R.S., president, in the chair.—The following new Members were announced :—A, Tylor, F.G.S., Baron von Hugel, Capt. R. C. Temple, and G. W. Bloxam, F.L.S.—Mr. E. W. Bra- brook, secretary to the Anthropometric Committee, exhibited two albums of photographs collected by that body.—A report on the Bheel tribes of the Vindhyon Range was read by Col. Kincaird, fully describing the manners, customs, and super- stitions of these little-known people, from experience derived during many years’ residence amongst them. The Bheels are very dirty in their habits ; their principal diseases are en'arged spleen and small-pox.—A paper was read by Mr. A. H. Keane on the relations of the Indo-Chinese and inter-oceanic races and languages, to show that Further India is occupied by two types, the fair and the yellow (Caucasian and Mongolian), the former speaking polysyllabic-untoned, the latter monosyllabic toned, languages; that both of these types, intermingled with the Papuan or dark races, constitute the whole of the population of Malaysia ; that the Caucasian alone appears in the Eastern Pacific as the ‘‘ Sawaiori,” or ‘‘large brown Polynesian race.” The absence of the monosyllabic languages from the oceanic area was accounted for, the expression ‘‘ Malayo-Polynesian ” shown to be misguiding, and the Malay type itself was con- sidered to be, not fundamental, but essentially mixed—the result of fusion in the Eastern Archipelago of the fair and yellow elements.—Mr. S. E. Peal exhibited a fine collection of ethno- logical drawings made in Assam, VIENNA Imperial Academy of Sciences, October 9.—T he vice- president made reference to the deaths of Dr. Fenzl, of Vienna, and Dr. y, Brandt, of St, Petersburg.—The following among 100 NATURE [Voo. 27, 1879 other papers were read :—Earthquakes in Canea on the night of August 9-10, by Herr Miksche.—On the decline of water in springs, rivers, and streams with simultaneous rise of high-water in cultivated lands, by Herr v. Wex.—Reply to Prof, Heer (with regard to the task of phyto-palzeontology), by Prof. yon Ettings- hausen.—Further investigation of spark-waves, by Prof. Mach and Herr Simonides.—On rational plane curves of the third and fourth order, by Herr Ameseder.—On the development of back- vessels and specially of the muscular system in Chironomus and some other insects, by Herr Jaworowski.—Determination of alti- tude of the pole at the Observatory of the Technical High School in Vienna, by Dr. Tinter.—Studies on a plane conic section of rotation, whose parameters are of the same size, by Herr Rotter. —Discovery of two comets by Herr Palisa and Herr Hertwig.— On combinations from animal tar. II. Non-basic constituents, by Dr, Weidel and Herr Ciamician.—On the phenomena in Geissler tubes under external action (first part), by Prof. Reit- linger and Urbanitzky.—On a species of configurations in the plane and in space, by Herr Kantor, Paris Academy of Sciences, November 17.—M, Daubrée in the chair.—The following papers were read :—Meridian observations of small planets at the Greenwich and Paris Observatories during the third quarter of 1879 ; communicated by M, Mouchez.—On the temperature of decomposition of vapours, by M. Sainte- Claire Deville. He supports M. Berthelot’s views in opposition to M. Wurtz. The quantity of heat liberated by formation of a compound substance has no known relation with its temperature of decomposition.—Observations on M. Cochin’s note on alco- holic fermentation, by M. Berthelot.—Observation of the ultra- violet limit of the solar spectrum at different altitudes, by M. Cornu. Fifty-two clichés were obtained at three stations: Rif- felberg (2,570 m, alt.), Rigi (1,650 m.), and Viege (660 m.) The extreme ultra-violet limits were, severally, A 293'2, 294°8, and 295°4; the difference between Riffel and Viége (1,910 m.) being thus only 2°2 units (or millionths of a millimetre), or about I unit for 900 metres’ altitude, a small amount of variation.— Explosion of carbonic acid in a coal-mine, by M. Delesse. This occurred in a coal-pit at Rocheville (Gard), where there is much carbonic acid (no fire-damp). Two men at 345 m. depth heard two successive detonations (without flame), had their lamps blown out, became faint, and were just able to throw themselves into the cage, when they were pulled up. Three others, at 246 m. depth, perished. Itis the first time the CO, has been so compressed and condensed in the coal as to cause explosion. Some seventy-six tons of coal were disengaged ; and the CO, liberated is estimated at a maximum of 4,546 cubic metres. It is thought that a new stratified mass of iron pyrites being very strongly oxidised and decomposed, the resulting sulphuric ‘acid dissolving in subter- ranean water reaches the triassic limestone, and so produces CO,, which diffuses through the fissures of the coal, M. Dumas supported this view.—Second note on the effects and mode of action of antiseptics; effects on pus, by MM. Gosselin and Bergeron. Rightly used camphorised brandy, carbolie acid (;,) and alcohol at 86° are, in the same degree, moderators of inflammation and preventives of septicazemia,—Climatological conditions of the years 1869-1879 in Normandy, and their influence on ripening of the crops (continued), by M. Mangon, In the north-west of La Manche, the low temperature of the end of 1878, of the first six months, and especially of July, 1879, and the abnormal rains of February and June, retarded the harvest about twenty-two deys for corn, twenty for barley and beans, and ten to twelve for buckwheat. By noting the sum of degrees of temperature in each year since sowing, we may, with aid of the tables here given, calculate very exactly a month or six weeks in advance the time of harvest for the crops named.— On-the true number of fundamental co-variants of a system of two cubics, by Prof. Sylvester.—Critical reflections on the experiments concerning human heat, by M. Hirn.— M. de Lesseps presented communications relating to a railway from Algeria to Senegal and Soudan, Belgian expeditions in Central Africa, and the public laws applicable to international rivers. —Atmospheric polarisation and the influence of terrestrial magnetism on the atmosphere, by M. Becquerel. He proves that a variable divergence exists between the plane of the sun (meaning thereby a plane passing through the observer’s eye, the point looked at, and the centre of the sun) and the plane of polarisation of the atmosphere at any point, and thinks the influence of the earth’s magnetism appears in rotating the plane of polarisation.—On a class of functions analogous to the Eulerian functions studied by M. Heine, by M. Appell.—_New principle of meteorology furnished by an examination of earth- ~ quakes, by M, Delauney. Earthquakes seem to pass through a maximum when Jupiter and Saturn are about the mean longi- tudes of 265° and 135°. A recrudescence of earthquakes in winter the author attributes to streams of cosmic meteors, and the influence of Jupiter and Saturn in the positions stated to their passage through such streams.—Remarks on M, Boiteau’s paper about winter eggs of phylloxera in surface-layers of the ground, by M. Balbiani.—On the causes of reinvasion of phylloxerised vineyards, by M. de Lafitte.—A telegram from General Ibanez announced completion of the geodetic connection of Spain with Algeria (November 16),—Observations of a satellite of Mars (Deimos) at Paris Observatory, by M. Bigourdan.—On doubly- periodic functions with singular essential points, by M. Picard.— Spots and protuberances observed with a spectroscope of great dispersion, by M. Thollon. The displacements and altera- tions of lines in observations of spots are specially striking. They are always in the same direction, and seem to indicate a motion from periphery to centre. A brilliant protuberance ob- served with narrow slit, illuminated vividly portions of the line C, which presented numerous solutions of continuity. The prodigious velocity of 25 km. per second indicated by the line, and lasting some time, suggests doubt as to the reality of the supposed cause.—The problem of the Euripus, by M, Forel. He traces the action of seiches as well as of soli-lunar tides in the currents of these straits.—On chlorophyll, by M. Gautier. He describes how he obtained chlorophyll pure and crystallised in 1877. He regards it as closely related to bilirubin, in apti- tudes, reactions, and elementary constitution, and consequently to hematine.—Viviparity of He/ix studeriana (Ferussac), by M. Viguier.—On the relative distribution of mean temperatures and pressures in January and July, by M. Teisserenc de Bort.—M. Le Bon gave some results of measurement of crania of eminent men in the Museum of Natural History. The high average figure of 1,732 cc. (capacity) was got from twenty-six skulls, — M. De Coiney described a meteor ‘observed by day at Jeyah (Dordogne), CONTENTS Tue Sacrep Books or THE East. By Prof. A.H.Sayvcze . + «+ + Mopern Curomatics. By Prof. SirpvanusP.THompson «+ « Our Book SHELF :— “« Zeitschrift fiir das chemische Grossgewerbe . . + + «_ + Gore's ‘‘ Southern Stellar Objects for Small Telescopes, between the Equator and 55° South Declination, with Observations made anithée PUNJRD “eo csu'e ss se ce Je «cw vale fo asain LETTERS TO THE EDITOR:— A New Nebula.—Lord Linpsay . . . «5 + © © ee Does Sargassum Vegetate in the Open Sea?—Dr. Ortro Kuntze Remarkable Prediction of Cold.—B. G. JeNKINS. . 2. + « © The Lizard.—JasPeR CARGILL . . « . - The ‘‘ Hexameter,” Maca ddci¢ aya. . IncLEBY; Henry CEci£ oes Unconscious Cerebration.—Hype CLARKE. » » « + «+ Mr. Thomas Bolton’s Natural History Discoveries.—TuHomas BOLTON (9 oo le 60 ve! van fd) Wha hep a vw elie ae eee Intellect in Brutes.—SopHig FRANKLAND » 4 «© « «2 oe + 6 “ Asia Minor” in the ‘‘ Encyclopedia Britannica.”—J. B.B. . . On tHE SoxusiLtiry oF Souips in Gaszs. By J. B. HANNay, F.R.S.E., F.C.S., and JamES HOGARTH . . . -*s « «© » @ «¢ On PHoToGRAPHING THE SPECTRA OF THE STARS AND PLANETS. By Dr. Henry DRAPER. 2) <(\0e en ey ie e_» ie if yee eee Tue Funcrion or CutoropHyLt. By Sypney H. Vines. . . «+ . Tue CamaripGe Narurat Sciences Trivos. By G,T. BETTANY « Tue PLanets oF THE SEASON. By T. W. Wess (With Lilustration) INOUE Ee as wes es ee fe 6) 6, x0, Se eee Our ASTRONOMICAL CoLuMmN:— The ‘‘ Uranometria Argentina’”’. © . . . + se 6 Wes The ‘‘ Lick Observatory,” California. . . + « « © © © © @ GmOGRAPHICAL NOTES . 4 2 os © «© wes ee ee ow oe BrioLocicar Nores :— Oospores of ‘‘ Volvox minor’. . . « Cedar of Lebanonin Cyprus . . . « ‘ ;, 88 etd—Dr. C. Mi . aan New Genus of Myriapod . . ~ . J are Zostera Marina; . . . 6) @ «le Pee A The Ontogeny and Phylogeny oft he Ctenophora . Arsenic in Animals" =... sey» ws se Dioptrics of the Bye’. 2°. eye tnt te ne 8 fs EXPERIMENTAL DETERMINATION OF THE Vetociry or LicuT. By Apert A. MicHELson, Master, U.S. Navy (With Iilustvations) . On THE MounTAINS OF THE NORTHERN AND WESTERN FRONTIER OF Inpia. By TRELAWNEY W. SAUNDERS . «+ +s = University AND EpucaTIONAL INTELLIGENCE . . Scrantiric SERIALS .« 6 6 © 5 © © © sw we Socrettes AND ACADEMIES. . + + + «© es + « © er i Dey ere rig 4 © 0 9; «el te . « 93 ees , iz . NATURE Iolt THURSDAY, DECEMBER 4, 1879 YALE COLLEGE AND AMERICAN PAL ONTOLOGY eo notices have from time to time appeared in European scientific journals of the scientific expe- ditions sent out from Yale College to the Western Terri- tories of the United States, probably only those palzon- tologists and geologists who have crossed the Atlantic and have had an opportunity of seeing all that is yet visible of the vast amount of material collected at New Haven can adequately realise the enormous additions which have been and are being there daily made to our knowledge of extinct vertebrate life. Thanks to the generous liberality of the late Mr. George Peabody, who has endowed centres of scientific progress in various parts of America, Yale College has been supplied with an admirable Museum of Natural History and with a fund for its maintenance. By his deed of gift the donor pro- vided that after one portion of the money had been employed in erecting the museum, a certain sum ($20,000) should be set apart and invested until it should reach at least five times its original amount, when it might be employed for further building; while the interest of a further sum of $30,000 should be devoted to the main- tenance and extension of the collections, in the proportion of three-sevenths to zoology, three-sevenths to geology, and one-seventh to mineralogy. The wise intentions of the founder have been most faithfully and successfully carried out by his trustees. The building now erected, though forming only one wing of the magnificent pile which they will ultimately com- plete, is already amply filled with the collections of the several departments. The rooms open to the public are well-lighted, and the cases are carefully arranged and easy of consultation. But by far the larger part of the collections is still stored in the cellars, awaiting the growth of the premises. Unfortunately, however, the boxes are accumulating in these lower regions at a rate ‘which one fears must be greater than that of the building 5 fund. The mineralogical cabinet has been entirely rearranged and displayed by Mr. E. S. Dana, who, with Prof. Brush, is amply sustaining the old mineralogical renown of New Haven. The unique feature, however, in the Peabody Museum, is the vast collection of vertebrate fossils from the Western Territories, made by the enthusiastic labours of Prof. O. C. Marsh. Only a small portion of this enormous series has yet been placed in cases for public inspection. But the Professor, with infinite courtesy and patience, con- ducted the writer of these lines through the stores from cellar to roof, brought under his notice examples of the more interesting and important of the “ finds,’ and furnished him with notes of the collection and permission to use them, of which he now gladly avails himself. After having spent several years in bringing together, from the Cretaceous and Tertiary strata of the Atlantic coast, a very considerable mass of material, the Professor came to the conclusion that this field was essentially exhausted, and that it was to the unexplored territory VoL. XXI.—NoO. 527 beyond the Missouri River, that the palzontologist must now look for additional facts to help him to an intelligent comprehension of the progress of vertebrate life in the past. This conclusion having been confirmed by his own observations during a short trip to the Rocky Moun- tains in 1868, he, in 1870, organised the first of the Yale Scientific Expeditions. After spending five months in the field the party returned well laden with fossil treasures from the Cretaceous and Tertiary formations. The suc- cess of this experiment having been so marked the four succeeding years witnessed the departure of as many expeditions, all of which were likewise successful. The results may be briefly summed up in the statement that, altogether, within six years, these expeditions under Prof. Marsh brought to light more than four hundred species of vertebrate fossils new to science, of which only about two-thirds have as yet been described. At the time when these explorations began, the West was almost wholly unknown, and the investigators were exposed to great hardships and to no little danger from hostile Indians. It is to be hoped that Prof. Marsh may be induced to write down and publish a narrative of his life and adven- tures in the wild west in search of fossils. The samples which in friendly talk he communicated to the present writer were so entertaining, that the book could not fail to prove most interesting, and would no doubt help on the cause of palzontology in America. Among the numerous extinct animals discovered during the progress of these explorations are many groups which differ widely from any forms of life previously known. Prominent among these, and extremely interesting from their bearing on questions of evolution, are the toothed birds of the Cretaceous formation, the Odontornites, all the known specimens of which are in the Yale Museum. These constitute a new sub-class, and have been divided into two well-marked orders: the Odontolce, which have the teeth implanted in grooves, and the Odoniolorme, with the teeth in distinct sockets. The Odou/olce were large swimming birds, somewhat resembling the Divers of the present day, but with rudimentary wings, of no possible use to their possessor. The vertebrae were as in modern birds. The typical genus is Hesferornis, and at least three species are known. The second order includes small birds, very different in appearance and characters from the preceding group, with large and powerful wings, and biconcave vertebrae, Two genera and several species are known, which belong to this order. The type genus _ is Jchthyornis. All the toothed birds known at present come from the upper Cretaceous of Kansas, and more than one hundred individuals are represented in the Museum. A memoir on this group, with forty quarto plates, by Prof, Marsh, is now in the press. In the same formation this active explorer discovered the first American Pterodactyls, or flying reptiles. These animals are extremely interesting, not only on account of their enormous size—for some of them have a spread of wings of nearly twenty-five feet—but more especially from the fact that they were destitute of teeth; in this respect resembling modern birds. They represent a new order, Pteranodontia, named from the type genus, Pleranodon, of which several species are now known. Numerous anatomical points of much importance will, no doubt, be brought to light by a close study of this remarkable F 102 NATURE te feet E _ sie [Dec. i 1879 aberrant group, and the ample material now in the museum, representing more than six hundred individuals, will render their elucidation comparatively easy. With the tocthed birds and the Pterodactyls, have been found great numbers of Mosasauroids, a group of reptiles, which, during Cretaceous times, attained an enormous development both as to numbers and the variety of forms by which it was represented. Several new families, in- cluding a number of new genera and many species, here appeared, and flourished abundantly. The Zy/osauride were very large, some of them being more than sixty feet in length, whle the Zdestosaurid@ were much smaller. The very abundant material secured, representing not less than twelve hundred individuals belonging to this order, has enabled Prof. Marsh to settle many doubtful points with regard to the structure of these reptiles, and to determine that they possessed hind paddles, and were -covered with dermal scutes. The Cretaceous formations of the West likewise have yielded numerous turtles and other reptiles, and many fishes, some of them of great interest, and very full series of specimens of all of these, representing not less than five thousand individuals, are at present in the Yale College Museum. The fame of these discoveries has led other explorers into the same field. A most formidable rival in enthusiasm and energy is Prof. E. D. Cope, who has filled the houses at Philadelphia with bones from the “West, who has published some valuable memoirs upon them, and to whose work attention will be directed on another occasion. Besides the discoveries made by Prof. Marsh and his parties in the Cretaceous of the West, the old Eocene lake-basins between the Rocky Mountains and the Wahsatch Range were, during the summer of 1870, ex- plored with most interesting results, their age being then fully determined and announced. Many remarkable forms of life, most of them very different from anything previously known, have been disinterred. Of all of these, perhaps none are more extraordinary than the gigantic Dinocerata, a new order recently established by Prof. Marsh. These animals nearly equalled the elephant in size, but with shorter limbs. The skull was furnished with two or more pairs of horn cores, and with enormous canine tusks similar to those of the walrus, while the brain was proportionally smaller than in any other land mammal. Three genera and several species are known. These great creatures seem to have lived in considerable numbers about the borders of the old Eocene lakes, and their remains are found quite abundantly, buried in the dirt that once formed the muddy bottom. Remains of more than two hundred different individuals are now in the Peabody Museum, and a volume descriptive of them by their discoverer is now in course of preparation. Another new order of mammals, made known by the same untiring anatomist from these same deposits, is that of the Z7//odontia. These animals are in many respects very remarkable, and notably in presenting characters which seem to indicate affinities with several widely dif- ferent groups. Thus the skull, feet, and vertebre re- semble those of some carnivores ; the anterior incisors forcibly remind one of the corresponding teeth in the rodents ; the lower molars are of the Paleotherium ungu- late type. Two families of this order are known: the Tillotheride, in which only the incisors, and the Sty/ino- dontide, in which all the teeth grow from persistent pulps. The largest specimens of this order were about the size of a tapir. .- From these Eocene deposits, too, were obtained the first remains of fossil Qvadrumana known from the New World. These early primates, according to their dis- coverer, seem to have relationships both with the lemurs of the Old World, and with the South American monkeys. Two families have been discovered; the Lemuravide, named from the principal genus, Lemw- vavus, which have forty-four teeth, and the Limnotheride, which have not more than forty. The large number of genera and species by which this group is represented in these Eocene deposits, show that, even at this early period, the American primates had reached a high degree of development, and enjoyed, up to that time at least, very favourable conditions for their existence. They are all, however, low generalised forms, the characters of their teeth and other portions of the skeleton bearing consider- able resemblance to the corresponding parts in the ungulates and carnivores. Besides the groups already mentioned, the same Eocene lake-basins yielded the remains of marsupials and bats (neither of which had before been found fossil in America), together with many species of birds, serpents, lizards, and fishes. Since the original account of American fossil horses given by Leidy, the Eocene strata of New Mexico and Wyoming have yielded two very important ungulates, which have helped to complete the history of the descent of the horse, so well worked out by Prof. Marsh. These relics carry back the ancestry of this familiar quadruped to the oldest Tertiary time. The earliest form, Zokippus, was about the size of a fox, had forty-four teeth, the molars having short crowns, and being quite different in form from the premolars. There were four well-deve- loped toes, a rudiment of another on the forefoot, and three toes behind. The structure of the feet and of the teeth in Lohippus indicates, beyond question, that the direct ancestral line to the modern horse had already separated from the Perissodactyls. The second of these ungulates, Orvohippus, is from the Wyoming Eocene, and is evidently next to Eohifpus, which it now replaces in the line of descent. In size it about equalled its prede- cessor, but the rudimentary digit of the forefoot has disappeared, and the last premolar has gone over to the molar series. Another Eocene equine, discovered in Utah, is Epchippus. The discoveries made by the Yale expeditions in the “¢ Miocene ”’ and Pliocene formations of the Rocky Moun- tains and the Pacific coast were scarcely less numerous and interesting. From these deposits were obtained the large series of specimens which served to complete the genea- logical line of the horse from the four-footed Orohippus of the Eocene to the large Eguus fraternus of the later Pliocene, which does not differ, appreciably, from the horse of to-day. From the “Lower Miocene” comes AZeso- hippus, which is about the size of a sheep, and has three usable toes of nearly equal size, and a long splint or rudiment of another, corresponding to the second digit of a five-toed foot. Mzohippus, a somewhat later form, bears a close resemblance to Mesohippus, but the side toes are smaller, and the splint is very short. In Protohippus, ae vat ee Ce gees 7a, a . Guat. ; Dee. 4, 1879] from the lower Pliocene, there is a considerable increase in size, the splint has disappeared, and the two side toes have become so small that they no longer reach the ground, but are merely dew claws, like those of the deer or ox. Pliohippus, which is found in a still higher horizon of the Pliocene, is as large as a donkey, has lost the dew claws, but has the splints much longer than the same bones in the modern equines. Finally, at the top of the Pliocene comes a true Zguus, which completes the line. Besides the forms mentioned, there are many intermediate ones, which show that the transition has taken place in the order indicated. Many additional characters of the skull, brain, and teeth, add weight to, and confirm, the evidence furnished by the feet. Among the other treasures of the Museum are bones of mammals allied to the modern rhinoceros, which occur abundantly in strata, said to be of Miocene age, both in Oregon and the Rocky Mountain region. These remains furnish material for tracing the descent of these creatures from the upper Eocene to the close of the Pliocene, when they appear to have become extinct. A strange group of ungulates, found in the so-called Lower Miocene of the plains, were the huge Brontotheride, which appear to have been allied to the Dixocerata, and also to Rhinoceros. In size they equalled the Déxocerata, and, like them, had an elevated pair of horn cores on the maxillary bones, An immense quantity of the remains of these animals, representing several genera and over two hundred indi- viduals, has been coilected, and is now in the Museum. Until within a year or two, no Tertiary edentates were known from America, although their remains were found in abundance in the superficial post-Tertiary deposits. Recently, however, the Museum has received, from the “ Lower Miocene” of Oregon, the remains of two species belonging to this group and to the genus JZoropus. These are of large size, and were, essentially, huge sloths, From the Pliocene deposits of Idaho and California, and from the same formations east of the Rocky Mountains, other large species have been discovered belonging to the genera Morofus and Morotherium. Many other groups of mammals, including primates, carnivores, suillines, camels, &c., have been collected in these formations, which also yield numerous birds, reptiles, and fishes. Although observations had been made by previous investigators, on the size of the brain in Tertiary mammals, Prof. Marsh was the first to institute any systematic inquiry into the laws which governed and the causes which acted upon, brain-growth in these ancient animals, Some of his conclusions, based on specimens now in the Museum, have been already given to the world, but they may be fittingly cited here; (1) All Tertiary Mammals had small brains ; (2) there was a gradual increase in the size of the brain during Tertiary time; (3) this in- crease was mainly confined to the cerebral hemispheres, or higher portion of the brain; (4) in some groups the convolutions of the brain have gradually become more complicated; (5) in some the cerebellum and olfactory lobes have even diminished in size. Some of the additional conclusions already reached in regard to American Tertiary mammals, so far as they are now known, are stated as follows :—(1) All the Ungulata from Eocene and Miocene deposits had upper and lower incisors ; (2) all Eocene and Miocene mammals had NATURE 103 separate scaphoid and lunar bones; (3) all mammals from these formations had separate metapodial bones. Although the Cretaceous and Tertiary fossils make up a large part of the geological collections of the Peabody Museum, the other formations are well represented in its store-rooms, This is especially true of the recently dis- covered Jurassic beds of the Rocky Mountains, which have yielded, since the summer of 1877, a great number of interesting forms. The parties that have been collect- ing for Prof. Marsh have been more than usually success- ful, and a study of the strange animals, many of them new to science, which have been sent to the Museum, has resulted in several discoveries of great interest. These Jurassic fossils are chiefly dinosaurs, crocodiles, turtles, and fishes. The first of these are extremely abundant, and the horizon from which they come has been named by Prof. Marsh, from one of the genera there discovered, the Atlantosaurus Beds. These dinosaurs varied widely in size and structure, for while some of them, e¢.g., Vamo- Saurus, were no larger than a cat, others were, by far; the largest land animals of which we have any knowledge. Among the discovered remains of Atlantosaurus immanis is a femur over six feet in length. A comparison of this specimen with the same bone in living reptiles indicates that AZ/antosaurus, if similar in proportions to the croco- diles, would have been more than one hundred feet in length. The anatomical points cleared up by the dis- covery of the bones of the feet in these dinosaurs are of great importance and interest. From these same Atlanto- saurus Beds come the strange Stegosauria, recently de- scribed by Prof. Marsh; a new} order of reptiles whose affinities are, as yet, but imperfectly understood, but which appear to have most relationship with the dino- saurs. The Atlantosaurus Beds have furnished, more- over, the only Jurassic mammals yet found in America. These remains, apparently all marsupial, belong, so far as known, to four genera and eight species, which Prof. Marsh has described. He has also recently made known, from the marine Jurassic beds of the Rocky Mountains, a peculiar group of reptiles (Sauranodontide) allied to Ichthyosaurus, but without teeth. An enumeration of the fossil treasures of New Haven would, however, fail to do justice to this marvellous col- lection if it made no mention of the almost incredible state of preservation of the fossils, A European student is lucky if he finds a tooth or a jaw; most fortunate should he stumble upon a cranium; the envy of the whole tribe of collectors should he disinter a whole skeleton. But even when most successful he meets with the bones often in a fragmentary, or badly preserved condition, or imbedded in so tough a matrix that they cannot be adequately cleared for study without almost certain detriment. The vast regions open to American research in the West, however, are the very paradise of palzontologists. Almost as fresh as if the animals had only recently died, the bones protrude sometimes in great numbers from the edges of the escarpments. When the first explorers went into these tracts they found the skulls grinning at them from the faces of the bare dry verdure- less cliffs of the “bad lands.” The diligence of Pro- fessors Marsh, Cope, and their parties has no doubt cleared away a good many of the prominent objects, But the number still to be exhumed must be enormous. ~ 104 wA TORE [Dec. 4, 1879 Entire skeletons with almost every bone in place show how. tranquilly and thoroughly the remains of the early ‘Tertiary vertebrates were entombed in the mud of the lakes on whose shores and waters they lived. A. G. CHRONOLOGICAL HISTORY OF PLANTS Chronological History of Plants: Man’s Record of his own Existence illustrated through their Names, Uses, and Companionship. By Charles Pickering, M.D. (Boston; Little, Brown, and Co.; London: Triibner and Co., 1879.) HIS is an extraordinary book, difficult alike to characterise and to review. It is a monument of enormous labour and erudition, but it is not easy to dis- cover the plan upon which it is compiled, and it certainly does not fulfil the promise of its title. A “chronological history of plants’’ would be an interesting and valuable work, if understood to mean a history of the ages and countries in which particular plants have been introduced from abroad, or those of home growth first adapted to the use of man. This, indeed, is the work which Dr. Picker- ing seems to have contemplated; it is not, however, the work which he has accomplished. Neither the historian, the philologist, nor the botanist will be satisfied with the huge volume now presented to them. Dates are given with a show of minute accuracy which the materials for ascertaining them unfortunately do not justify. Thus, to go no further than the second page, we find the mysterious paragraph, “ Second genera- tion, September Ist, 4234, among living men.” As Similar entries occur on the following page, with the names of Enoch, Irad, and other descendants of Cain attached to them, I suppose the paragraph must be interpreted to mean that the second generation of living men first saw light on the 1st of September, B.c, 4234. How. Dr. Pickering knew this I cannot imagine. If we turn over a few leaves we find the dates of the early Egyptian kings set down with equal minuteness, and, it must be added, with an equally small show of reason. Dr. Pickering even knows the exact dates of the antediluvian monarchs of Babylonia, though he has forgotten the right name of the town of Pantibibla, from which several of them were said to have come. His knowledge of the heroic age of Greece is equally precise. Thus he tells us that in 1290 B.C. Jasus was “succeeded by Crotopus, son of Agenor, and now ninth King of Argos;’’ and then follows some_inte- resting information about the Pelasgians and their wanderings, Dr. Pickering’s philology is not less remarkable than his chronology. He shocks the Hebrew scholar by calling iz6n (‘‘sheep’’) ¢zan, of which, by the way, he says that it was “regarded even by Dicaarchus as probably the first animal domesticated ’’—a statement likely to be dis- puted by those who have occupied themselves with the history of the domestication of animals. Under the year 1720 B.C., he remarks that “the northern language from which certain Greek words were taken probably at this time in existence”—a statement which will be new to most philologists and Greek scholars. Naturally he has never heard of the explanation of the word /oxg/ove, which makes it a popular corruption of /o/k’s-gleed, or “row of bells.” . But it is the botanist who has most reason to complain of Dr. Pickering’s work. Instead of a “chronological history of plants,” he finds the names and notices of various specimens of the vegetable world catalogued in the most arbitrary way under dates which have little or no connection with the age in which they were first known or used by man. So far as the earlier half of the book is concerned, the notices might in most instances have been as well entered on another page as that on which they are actually found. Why, for instance, should the Arze- mista absinthium or the Tris sambucina be described under the date 1734 B.C., and what possible connection can there be between 1203 B.C. and the Phragmites com- munis ? The only relation that can generally be traced between the dates and the plants recorded under them is little better than a pun. Because the almond or Zz, which Dr. Pickering calls /wz, is mentioned in Genesis Xxx. 37, it is recorded under the year 1506 B.C., the year in which Joseph was “born to Jacob and Rachel;” be- cause a brick from the small pyramid of Dashur was discovered to contain the straw of the jointed charlock and field-pea, an account of these plants is given under the year 2079 B.C., the assumed date of the building of the pyramid; and the mention of ‘‘Pelasgus establishing himself as king in Arcadia” in 1354 B.C. calls up a description of the Quercus esculus. As a set-off against this learned trifling, a vast quantity of matter is intro- duced which has nothing to do with plants and their history. Thus it would be quite intelligible if the author had given a list of those Egyptian hieroglyphics which represent plants, but the long, though imperfect, catalogue of hieroglyphic characters of all kinds which he actually has given, though fitted for a treatise on Egyptian gram- mar, is certainly out of place in a history of the vegetable world, There is only one explanation that can be offered for the character of this extraordinary volume. Dr. Picker- ing was an able and learned scholar, trained in scientific methods and capable, as is proved by his “ Races of Man,” of producing good scientific work. But his “Chronological History of Plants” has been published since his death, and has consequently not had the benefit of his own compilation and revision. It consists simply of the notes he collected during a long course of volu- minous reading, arranged, not upon any scientific plan, but under the convenient headings of his common-place book. The student may possibly construct a chronologi- cal history of plants out of them, but sucha history does not exist at present. The volume is a mine of materials which, thanks to a careful index, can be easily used, though considerable caution is required in doing so. As it stands, however, it is hardly better than a mass of undigested and ill-arranged facts, mixed up with dates and statements calculated to send a shudder through the sensitive frame of the critical historian. Posthumous works are not unfrequently the most cruel injury that can be inflicted by friends upon the memory of the dead, and it is hardly likely that Dr. Pickering would have relished the appearance of his elaborate notes in precisely their present form. A. H. SAYCE —_— 2 2p POR IY OPT Ce ere iad Dec. 4, 1879] 105 CHALLIS'S “ PRACTICAL ASTRONOMY” Lectures on Practical Astronomy and Astronomical In- struments. By the Rev. James Challis, M.A., F.R.S., &c. (Cambridge : Deighton, Bell, and Co,; London: George Bell and Sons, 1879.) AP LONG since as the year 1843 the Plumian Profes- sor of Astronomy and Experimental Philosophy in the University of Cambridge commenced a course of lectures upon practical astronomy and the use of astrono- mical instruments, the proximity of an observatory pro- vided with instruments of first-rate quality appearing to him to give facilities for acquiring a knowledge of the practical branch of the science which ought to be taken advantage of. The syllabus of these lectures has been utilised as the groundwork of the present volume, but the progress of astronomy has necessitated the introduc- tion of various modifications in the original plan and contents. By far the larger portion of the volume is devoted to the description and use of instruments found in the larger fixed observatories, the illustrations being usually appli- cable to instruments in the Cambridge Observatory, and the work being therefore more especially adapted to the use of students in that university, who have frequent access to the observatory. Notwithstanding this circum- stance, however, the treatise will be found to convey much information on practical matters and details, which is not of so limited an application. The fixed instruments which are treated of at length are the transit instrument, the mural-circle, the transit- circle, incorporating in its employment the purposes of the two former instruments and the equatorial. The transit-circle may now be said to have wholly superseded the mural-circle and transit-instrument in most of the principal observatories, but the explanations of them given by Prof. Challis being applicable to the reduction of meridional observations generally, are also applicable in great measure to the transit-circle. The latest obser- vations with a mural-circle which we remember to have seen were made at the Naval Observatory, Washington, and the instrument still figures in the last description of that establishment. Prof. Challis enters fully into such details as the mechanical adjustments of a transit instru- ment and the correction of errors by calculation, the construction and application of the collimating eye-piece, the azimuth-error obtained by astronomical observations, and correction for error of level, also upon a method of correcting the errors of a transit-instrument for deviation of the pivots from a cylindrical form, a defect which, if we are not mistaken, considerably exercised not only Prof, Challis, but his successor Prof. Adams, as exemplified in the Cambridge instrument. The computation of apparent and mean right ascensions follows, with reference to recent corrections of the more important astronomical constants entering into such work, Similarly the author describes the method of observing with the mural- circle, and the calculation of the mean polar distances of stars and the geocentric polar distances of the sun, moon, and planets with numerical examples. The equatorials of the Cambridge Observatory and their appliances are particularly described, and the adjustments of this form of astronomical instrument and the method of deducing the right ascension and polar distance of a celestial object from the observations. Reference is also made to the “counterpoise mounting’’ of an equatorial, and the arrangements, advantages, and disadvantages of this form of mounting. Other fixed instruments of which some account is given are the altitude and azimuth instrument, with special reference to that at the Royal Observatory, Green- wich, the zenith sector, Airy’s reflex zenith tube, and the | transit inthe prime vertical. There are also articles upon transportable instruments, as the theodolite and sextant, on the chronographical method of registering transit- observations, the different methods of determining terres- trial longitudes, the solar parallax, and miscellaneous additional subjects of less importance. The volume, as we have already stated, and, indeed, as is hinted by Prof. Challis, may appear to be more especially adapted to students in the university who desire an acquaintance with the principles of astronomical practice, and in his preface the author urges the advantages of giving attention to a subject of this kind, “as a mental exercise of much educational value, inasmuch as it is altogether unlike any process of reasoning by abstract symbols, and may serve as a corrective to the effect of too exclusive an attention to reasoning of that kind.’ But there are few works of its nature in English astro- nomical literature, a circumstance which is likely to secure for it a wider circle of readers. The volume has been published at the expense of the Syndics of the University Press. OUR BOOK SHELF The Carboniferous Limestone and Cefn-y-Fedw_ Sand- stone of the Country between Llanymynech and Minera, North Wales. By George H. Morton, F.G.S., F.R.G.S.1., Honorary Secretary of the Liverpool Geological Society. (London : David Bogue, 1879.) In this exc: llent monograph, which is now reprinted from the Proceedings of the Geological Society of Liver- pool, Mr. Morton has brought together a vast amount of - valuable information concerning the lower carboniferous rocks, as displayed in a district where they have been but little studied. The splendid escarpment of the Eglwyseg rocks, near Llangollen affords a series of mag- nificent sections, the interpretation of which, however, requires considerable patience, care, and caution on the part of the field geologist. Mr. Morton shows that the succession of the lower carboniferous rocks in North Wales presents marked points of difference from that which is observed either in Yorkshire or Derbyshire. He- divides these lower carboniferous rocks into two groups— ‘the carboniferous limestone below and the Cefn-y-Fedw sandstone above ; and in the correlation of these he adopts the views originally put forward by Prof. A. H. Green, and since supported by Mr. D. C. Davies, namely, that the conglomerate and sandstone strata overlying the car- boniferous limestone represent not only the millstone grit, but also the Yoredale rocks of Prof. Phillips and the Geological Survey. ; Mr. Morton shows that the carboniferous limestone of this district attains a thickness of 1,200 feet, and he gives detailed descriptions of the several members of which it is made up, with lists of the fossils obtained from each, The overlying arenaceous formation is 723 feet thick, and consists of alternations of sandstone conglomerate and shale; these beds contain marine shells, with some plant-remains. The sections which are given in this 106 NATURE [Dec. 4, 1879 monograph enable us to trace the numerous and rapid changes which these carboniferous strata undergo within comparatively limited areas. The manner in which the several members of the series overlap one another, as has already been pointed out by Mr. Davies, is also admirably illustrated in this work of Mr. Morton’s. Perhaps no part of this excellent memoir will prove of more general interest to geologists than Mr. Morton’s account of the numerous faults which traverse the district ; the positions and effects of these being illustrated by a map and several sections. The isolated patch of car- boniferous rocks faulted down among the Silurian strata near Corwen is also more fully described than by any previous author. Besides the numerous woodcuts and lithographic plates, the work is illustrated by three ad- mirable photographs by Mr. W. H. Wilson. We heartily recommend this exhaustive monograph to the attention of our readers, as a model of the kind of work which may be advantageously undertaken by the members of local scientific associations. J. W. J. Magnetism. The High School Series. (London: T. Murby, 1879.) THE anonymous author of this little work of sixty-eight pages has produced a very readable and in many ways admirable primer of Magnetism for boys and girls. Clearly written, well illustrated, and dealing with such matters of experiment as boys and girls can verify for themselves, it will be sure to command popularity. The experiment on p. 22, which suggests the form of the curve of magnetic intensity along a bar-magnet by the length of the chain of nails which can be hung on at equidistant points, thus building up visible ordinates on the abscissz is new to us, and as neat as novel. One cannot help wondering, however, why the author has assumed that “high-school’’ pupils must have mathematics and even arithmetic kept almost entirely out of sight. Why the separate chapters are entitled as “ Lectures’’ is not very evicent. The ‘Lecture,’’ for example, on “ Diamag- netism’’—the ninth of the ten—is just thirty-seven lines long, and takes just two minutes to read aloud! LETTERS TO THE EDITOR [Zhe Editor does not hold himself responsible for opinions expressed by his correspondents. Neither can he undertake to return, or to correspond with the writers of, rejected manuscripts. No notice is taken of anonymous communications. [The Editor urgently requests correspondents to keep their letters as short as possible. The pressure on his space is so great that it ts impossible otherwise to ensure the appearance even of com- munications containing interesting and novel facts.] To Astronomers i HAVE the honour to inclose to you a copy of a circular which Thave lately sent out from my ob:ervatory to upwards of 200 observatories, public and private, scattered over the face of the globe, I have long felt that it was highly desirable that some means should be found whereby the di coveries in astronomy should be made public in a rapid and systematic manner, more especially in this country, where I am proud to say we number so many among all classes who take an intelligent and earnest interest in this the highest of the studies of nature, After much thought as to the best means of carrying out the plan, I deter- mined, it may be presumptuously, to endeavour to do the work myself, and to that end I issued the circular to alldirectors of observatories whose addresses I cauld lay my hands upon. Should I have the fortune to receive favourable replies from abroad, I hope to make the matte successful. Now as to the distribution of the news in the British Islands: I am making a list of those who apply to me for the circulars and I will endea- vour to post these within 24 hours of receiving the notice myself. I have made arrangements with the telegraph officials, that any telegram addressed (as below) shall be sent out at whatever hour it may arrive: I have further set up a small printing press in my observatory from which to pull the circulars, as I feel sure that this is the most convenient method and the least liable to error, In conclusion I may add that should any devise a better means for doing this work, I will at once place my experience at their disposal and do all I can to assist them. LINDSAY Haigh Hall, Wigan, November 29 ' “* The Observatory, Dun Echt, Aberdeen, ** November 1, 1879. “S1r,—I am very anxious to form some system whereby information of astronomical interest may be rapidly and widely disseminated among English observers ; and I would beg to ask for your assistance in carrying out my plan. “Tn the event of your discovering a comet, new star, or other object of immediate interest, I would ask you to send me a tele- ee announcing the discovery and giving such details as are usual, ‘* JT have purposely omitted to mention minor planet disco- veries, inasmuch as this branch is already admirably carried out by the Berlin Observatory. “For convenience, the telegram should be in the form recom- mended by the Vienna Academy in the 75th vol. of the str, Nachr,, No. 1785, page 142, as follows :—‘ Comet (new star, &c.,) Discoverer, Date, Local Mean Time of Observation (in hours and minutes), Place of Discovery, Right Ascension in Arc (degrees and minutes), North Polar Distance (degrees and minutes), Daily Motion in R.A, and N.P.D. (minutes of arc) plus or minus, Description, Diameter of Comet, &c, (in minutes of arc). ‘* Thus a telegram would run :— ***Comet Winnecke 5 April. 07508 Motion o minus 60. ** This would read :— “**Comet discovered by Winnecke, 5th of April, 14 hours 45 minutes Mean Time Strassburg, R.A. 331° 57, N.P.D. 75°8'. Daily Motion, stationary R,A., minus 60’ in Polar Distance.’ “ Noughts should be put in where are no significant figures, so as to make three figures for degrees, and two for minutes (five in all), in K.A. and in N.P.D., similarly four in the Local Time. * Telegrams, &c., should be addressed— *** Observatory, Dun Echt, Aberdeen, “I will engage to distribute the notices of discovery within 24 hours of receiving the telegram, by means of a circular, sent out by first post from my Observatory, to all those who would be likely to make useful observations, and who will also favour me with their addresses. “ At present, it is only by accident that private observers hear of the discovery of Comets, &c., and it is obviously greatly to tbe advantage of astronomy that early and reliable information should be spread over the British Islands, without having to wait for its publication in some of our scientific journals, ‘*T should feel much gratifiel if I may feel assured of your valuable co-operation in this matter. ‘* Believe me, yours very faithfully, ** LINDSAY, “ Pres. Roy. Ast, Soc.” 1445 Strassburg 33157 The Cresswell Cave Exploration, 1876 Ir seems to me proper to notice the statements made by Mr. Heath in a pamphlet on the bone-caves of the Cresswell Crags, published in August last, and since more broadly put in the Manchester press, calling in question the results of the explora- tion carried on by the Committee in 1876.1 : S It is insinuated that the engraved bone now in the British Museum, discovered by the Rev. J. M. Mello, and the tooth of Machairodus, discovered by myself, are not dond fide discoveries in the caves of the Cresswell Crags, but were placed there by some one, not specified, and were derived from some other loca- lity, which also is not specified. With regard to the engraved bone, it is only necessary to say that Mr. Heath was not in the Robin Hood Cave when Mr. Mello’s discovery was made, while ™ Committee :—President: Sir John Lubbock, Bart., F.R.S.,M.P. Secre- tary: Prof. Boyd Dawkins, M.A., F.R.S. ‘Treasurer: Fredk. Longden, Esq. Members: Prof. Busk, F.R.S,; Prof. Prestwich, F,R.S. ; John Evans, Esq., F.R.S.; A. W. Franks, Esq., F-R.S.; the Rev. J. Magens Mello, M.A.. F.G.S.; Rooke Pennington, Esq-, LL.B., F.G.S ; William Bragge, Es}., F.G.S.; R. D. Darbishire, Esq., B.A., F.G.S. The work is under the direction of the Rev. J. M. Mello, Prof. Boyd Dawkins and Mr. Heath, F.R.H.S., being superintendents. The Report will be prepared for the Geoleg:cal S-ciety of London by the Rey. J. M. Mello and Prof, Boyd Dawkins. Sle a — * ee ok Sk N. ATURE 107 it so happens that I was present, and can testify to the accuracy of Mr. Mello’s statement. With regard to the tooth of Machai- rodus, which I discovered and afterwards showed to Mr. Heath, it is asserted that it was without adherent matrix, and without the moisture which it would possess had it been imbedded in the cave for ages. These assertions are disproved by the facts that the tooth unfortunately split in pieces in process of drying, and that the matrix of red earth, only partially removed when it was repaired and gelatinised in the Owens College Museum, is still to be seen in the pulp cavity. ; In the exploration of the caves, in 1876, the discoverer, Mr, Mello, was director, while I undertook to name and classify the remains, and we drew up a report published in the Quart. Geol. Soc. Fourn., 1877, p. 475. Mr. Heath and myself acted as superintendents of the work, under the direction of Mr, Mello. It was Mr. Heath’s duty as superintendent to hand over to the director the notes on which the above assertions are based, as well as any other notes relating to the work entrusted to him. He did not do so. If he had any fault to find, it was his duty to lay it before the committee, and in the interest of truth to make his statement when the report was read at the meeting of the Geological Society, at which he was present. He did neither of these things. Nor when he had many opportunities of saying what he liked at the meeting of the British Association at Shef- field, after my paper before the Geological Section, and our addresses at Cresswell, did he say one word, although he was present at both. The pamphlet in question was to us the first intimation that he differed with us as to the facts. In conclusion it only remains for me to add that Mr. Heath was wot a member of the Exploration Committee, that he was merely a subordinate to Mr. Mello, and that, on his own show- ing, he kept back for nearly three years notes considered by him to be valuable, which he was in honour bound to communicate at once to the director for the information of the committee— notes which were as much the property of the committee as the fossil remains discovered in the caves at their expense. I am instructed that the only notes which he gave to the director were certain measurements of the inside of the Robin Hood Cave, which it was found necessary to have done over again, W. Boyp DAwKINs, Secretary of the Cresswell Caves Exploration Committee, 1876 “The Societyjfor the Encouragement of Literature and Science” THE attention of the Council of the Geological Society has been called to the prospectus of a ‘‘ Society for the Encourage- ment of Literature and Science,” in which the letters ‘‘ F.G.S.” are appended to the name of one of the vice-presidents and to that of the ‘‘Secretary-in-Chief.” I have been directed by the Council to make it generally known that neither of these gentle- men is a Fellow of the Geological Society, as would naturally be inferred from their use of these letters, and I shall feel greatly obliged by your insertion of this note in your columns. Geological Society, W. S. DALtLAs, Burlington House, November 27 Assist. Sec. Geol. Soc. THE attention of the Council of the Linnean Society of London has been called to a paper or prospectus of a ‘‘ Society for the Encouragement of Literature and Science,” whereof W. Sarjeant-Rodway is stated to be ‘‘ Secretary-in-Chief,” and wherein the names Lewis Biden, A. Ware, and Joseph Blackburn Leslie each appear followed by the letters F.L.S., which letters are those appointed to indicate ‘‘ Fellow of the Linnean Society ” —a chartered society. Its attention has also been called to another paper apparently put forth by a ‘* Conchological Society of London,” wherein the name W. Serjeant-Rodway appears as ‘*Secretary and Founder,” with the addition of the letters F.L.S. (Lond.). As no one of these four gentlemen is a Fellow of the Linnean Society, the Council of the same Society has requested me to make the fact known, and I shall therefore be much obliged if you will be so kind as to give insertion to this letter in NaTuRE, Linnean Society, Burlington House, ST, GEORGE MIvART Piccadilly, W., November 27 Zool. Sec. Lin, Soc, Does Sargassum Vegetate in the Open Sea? Ir the’correspondent in NaTurRE, vol. xxi. p. So, under the above title, would again refer to my communication in vol. xx. p. 578, which I much regret he finds so unsatisfactory, he will see that the several statements and quotations it contains are exclusively based upon “ personal” observations made by myself and by the naturalists on board the Challenger during our cruise in the North Atlantic in the year 1873. In replying to his inquiries in vol. xx. p. 552, I was only anxious to supply him with what I considered to be the latest and the most reliable information available on the subject, and which hardly deserves to be qualified as ‘‘ old reports” and as‘‘a mixture of the prevalent opinion since Columbus and observed facts.” The term Sargasso Sea has been extended by geographers, and not incorrectly so, to all oceanic areas where large aggregations of sea-weed are met witb, and it does not necessarily imply the presence of Sargassum, z.¢., Sargassum bacciferum in these regions, since the original Spanish word Sarvgazo (in Portuguese Sargaco) simply means “sea-weed,” I am, therefore, not sur- prised that the correspondent should not have found any gulf- weed while crossing the Pacific Sargasso Sea. Nor can the obscurity in which so many details connected with the gulf-weed are still involved be fairly ascribed to want of observation on the part of the few naturalists who have had the opportunity of studying this interesting alga i sz/#, that is to say, in the middle of the North Atlantic, but rather to the great difficulty, if not impossibility, of ascertaining the life-history of a specimen accidentally found floating on the surface of the ocean, For this reason I fear that some time may elapse before the numerous questions put by the correspondent in vol. xxi. pp. 80-81 can be satisfactorily answered. A botanist stationed for several seasons at Bermudas, or on one of the Bahama Islands, might probably succeed in throwing some light upon the successive stages in the growth and decay of Sargassum bacci- Serum, ifs: fog WED The Paces of the Horse I VENTURE to offer the following illustration of the effect produced on the eye by a horse galloping. oO A I take a pencil, O A, and oscillate it rapidly between the fosi- tions Oa and Oa’. The impression produced on my eye is an indistinct fan-shaped figure, a Oa’, bounded by two rather dis- tinct images of the pencil in its extreme positions Oa and Oa’. The indistinctness of the fan-shaped figure is caused by the rapid change of position of the pencil, which is reduced to a minimum at Oa and Oa’, where the pencil swings up to, and returns back from, its extreme positions, passing over the same ground twice in successive instants of time, and thus seeming to pause in the immediate neighbourhood of those positions, An artist repre- senting this effect would draw the indistinct fan-shaped figure ; and the two rather distinct images of the pencil at Oa and O@’, The relative motion of the legs of a horse galloping may be looked upon as that of rapidly oscillating pendulums with this very important addition ; that besides their pendulum-like osc Ilations, they go through rapid infernal changes of form, owing to the bending, or doubling up, of the legs at the knees, hocks, and fetlocks, at every stride. The rapidity of these internal changes is reduced toa minimum when the leg is inits extreme ovlstre(ched position, Again, it is in this same position that the rapidity of change of position owing to the pendulum-like oscillation is also ata minimum. The two minimums are, as it were, coincident, and, as a consequence, every leg as it reaches its outstretched position, seems for an instant to pause, leaving a rather distinct impression on the eye. The other legs on successively reaching their respective outstretched positions produce corresponding impressions on the eye. It is a fact that the legs do not reach these positions simu/taneously ; they reach them successively, but the image produced by one leg in its outstretched position has not time to be obliterated before the images of the other legs are produced in their corresponding outstretched positions. There- fore they appear to us to be all simultaneously in those out- 108 NATURE +> Pas) stretched positions, and it is thus that the artist should represent them. . It is his duty to represent things as they affear, rather than as they actually ave, at a given instant of time. - The fan-shaped form noticed in the case of the oscillating pencil becomes exceedingly indistinct, if it does not disappear altogether, in the case of the galloping horse’s legs, This is owing to the rapid internal changes of form of the legs. Your correspondent, Sir W. G. Simpson, Bart., states in his ex- cellent letter produced in NATURE, vol. xxi. p. 55, that agalloping horse might he represented with all its legs gathered under it. I venture to disagree with him for this reason; the two ‘ mini- mums’’ to which I have referred in a former part of this letter are wof coinelent when the legs are in their extreme position gathered under the body, and therefore no such distinct image of theu in that position is produced. The ‘‘minimums” are only coincident in the other extreme, viz., the outstretched, position. The artistic representation of a horse’s paces other than galloping, as also that of other objects in motion, can be deter- mined by similar reasoning. V. B, BARRINGTON-KENNETT 15; Hyde Park Gardens, W., November 26 Force and Momentum It is commonly said that change of momentum is evidence that force ha» acted or is acting on the mass, and that the rate at which the momentum is changing is the measure of the force. Thus, in his lecture on ‘‘ Force,” Prof. Tait says: ‘‘ Force is the rate of change of momentum” (NATURE, vol. xiv. p. 462). This is not true if the mass be variable. Suppose a sphere of ice moving with constant velocity in a straight line through hot space. The mass, and therefore the momentum, is changing at every instant by the evaporation of the ice. The evaporation being supposed uniform over the entire surface, any force im- pres:ei on the sphere by the mutual repulsion between it and a particle of vapour thrown off at a point, J, is balanced by an equal force at the other end of the diameter through g. Hence, the resultant of all these forces is nothing. Here, then, we have chanze of momentum of the sphere, although no force acts on it. In like wanner the change of momentum of a rocket and of a locomotive engine is partly due to change of mass, Does it not hence appear that change of velocity is the proper evi- ~ dence of the action of force? When a variable mass, 7, is in motion, the proper measure of the force acting on mat any given instant in any given direction is—not the rate of change of momen- tum, but—the product of the value of the mass at that instant, and the value of the rate of change of the velocity at that instant and in that direction, z.e., the measure of the force is not a), but 3 at E.G. [There is no such thing in nature as a ‘‘ variable mass” ; and our currespondent’s difficulty arises from his omitting to take account of the momentum of each of the parts (however small) into which a mass may be divided. In most good works on dynamics he will find the motion of a rocket, or of a descending rain-drop (which gathers mass as it falls), accurately treated on | the assumption that the momentum produced per unit of time is the measure of the force acting.—Ep, ] Change in Apparent Position of Geometrical Figures THE perplexing illusion to which Mr. Bellamy refers (NATURE, vol. xx. p. 362) has long been known, and various explanations have been given of it by physicists. Sir Chas. Wheatstone, in 1838, showed clearly that it is a mental operation, while combating the idea of Prof, Necker, of Geneva, who attri- buted the alteration of appearance in geometrical figures, not to a mental operation, but to an involuntary change in the adjustment of the eye for obtaining distinct vision, Necker’s experiment is substantially the same as that described by Mr. Bellamy. The solid angles at A and x being alternately looked at, sometimes one and sometimes the other appears the nearer, the entire figure at the same time changing in unison; and as Wheatstone points out, “the change of figure frequently occurs while the eye continues to look at the same angle,” In the following experiment it is secn more clearly still that the operation is a mental one, because there is neither movement of recti, oblique, nor ciliary muscles. Two concentric squares have their corners joined by straight lines. The lesser square will appear in a plane anterior, or posterior to the larger, according as we regard the figure as the representation of a truncated pyramid, or as the representation of a room with its sides all sloping away to the distant square wall. Here no eye muscles are concerned; the image on the retina remains unaltered, and the only operation is a_mental one, a turning to the results of past experience. Wm. AcKRoYD Mutual Attraction of Spectral Lines I po not know that it has been remarked that a line in the diffraction-spectrum (whether bright or dark) must be shifted from its normal position in case another line falls very near it. Neighbouring lines must be attracted if both are bright or both dark, and repelled if one is bright and the other dark. The reason is that the lines are only maxima or minima of light, and the differential coefficient of the sum does not vanish at the same points as the differential coefficients of the separate terms. The shifting will be the greatest in the case of a faint line near a very intense one. I have succeeded in this way in shifting the posi- tions of lines by measurable amounts (1" to 2”). Baltimore, Md., November 14 C. S, PEIRCE EXPLORATION OF TIMOR T will be perhaps of some interest to the readers of NATURE to hear that Mr. Riedel, the Dutch resident on Timor (Timor Kupang), who formerly lived on Celebes, and collected a great deal on this island for European museums, and who is known by his various writings on different scientific questions concerning the East, has just reiurned from a twenty-five days’ journey through Central Timor from 123° 30’.—125° E.L., as he wrote to me ina letter dated October 6, No European has made sucha journey through Timor before, and it has been very troublesome. But the country is, Mr. Riedel remarks, a splendid one, and very suitable for coffee and cinchona cultivation. The traveller did not see any Negritos, who, according to the assertion of M. Hamy, live in the interior of Timor, nor did he hear anything of a Casuary which was reported from there recently. Mr. Riedel collected many geographical notes, and sketched a map of the parts which he visited. A small collection of plants was forwarded to me by Mr. Riedel, and I have sent them to Kew, as Prof. Oliver formerly had the kindness to determine several botanical collections of Mr. Riedel’s from Celebes. A. B. MEYER Dresden, November 29, Royal Zool. Museum LAND SHELLS OF THE AUSTRAL ISLANDS gi HE small island of Rurtu (Oheatora of Capt. Cook) is about 320 miles south-south-west of Tahiti; it is eight miles in length, and has an elevation of 1,500 feet, over 100 feet consisting of old coral reefs which have been upheaved to that altitude. Mr. Charles de Gage, a resident and experienced naturalist, has col- lected a number of land-shells, which have been studied ; [Dec. 4, 1879 — Det. 4, 1879] by Mr. Andrew Garrett, and described in the Proc. NATURE 109 Acad. Nat. Sci, Philadelphia. One of the most interesting species is Partula hyalina (Broderip), found abundantly in three groups of islands. In Tubuai, 1oo miles east of Rurutu, it is abundant, and the Austral group appears to be its metropolis. It is found, though sparingly, in nearly every valley in Tahiti. It was also obtained by Mr. Garrett at Mangaia, one of the Cook’s, or Hervey Islands, 400 miles west of Rurutu. The variation in examples from the three groups is remarkably slight. It is a strictly arboreal species, and has a uniform white colour. J Another species, Stenogyra juncea, Gould (sp.), is found very widely through Polynesia, in all groups north of the equator, and south of all islands from the Marquesas and Paumotus, to the Viti group, and probably ranging further west ; they are found under loose stones, beneath decayed wood, among dead leaves, &c., and range from near the sea-shore to 2,000 feet above the sea. Another well-known genus, Szccznea, is now recorded from Rurutu, slightly differing from a Tahitian species, S. pudorina (Gould). Chondrella(Pease) is remarkable forhaving no tentacles ; during locomotion the animal is nearly or quite concealed by the shell, which is carried diagonally. In creeping, only the extreme tip of the muzzle is seen from above, while the eyes are plainly visible through the transparent shell. The extreme interest of the fauna of oceanic islands becomes continually more evident. DISTINGUISHING LIGHTS FOR LIGHT- HOUSES IR WILLIAM THOMSON writes a long letter on this subject to the Zzmes of Tuesday, the letter being the result of a most interesting experimental cruise of ten days on board Her Majesty’s ship orthampton, in the English Channel, from which he has recently returned, having had many good opportunities of observing the lights on the south coast of England. This has revivified his conviction of need for a threefold reform in our light- house system, which he has been urging and re-urging since 1872 with hitherto but partial success :—A great quickening of nearly all revolving lights ; the application of a group of dot-dash eclipses to every fixed light; and the abolition of colour as a distinction of lighthouse lights, except for showing dangers and channels and ports by red and white and green sectors. Of about 120 revolving lights on the English, Scottish, and Irish coasts, there are in all eighteen in which the periods are ten seconds or less and the times of extinction seven seconds or less. In these quick revolving lights the place of the light is not practically lost in the short intervals of darkness ; the eye sweeping deliberately along the horizon, with or with- out the aid of a binocular, to “pick up the light,’’ passes over less than the breadth of its own field of view in the period of the light, and thus picks it up almost as surely and quickly as if it were a fixed light. And so in respect to compass bearings, whether taken roughly and quickly by inspection or more accurately by azimuth compass, the bearing of the ten-second or quicker revolving lights is taken almost as easily and accurately as if the light were continuous. Sir William contrasts this with the case of the ordinary minute-period revolving light, or even the half-minute period to which some formerly slower lights have been quickened. He shows how difficult it is to pick up these slow lights, and his own experience proves that a fixed light like the Eddystone is much more valu- able than the slowly revolving Start. The Wolf light he found most irregular in its periods, the successive periods of light varying from nineteen to forty seconds, and of darkness from nineteen to thirty- four. These irregularities are apt to lead to most serious mistakes, as Sir William shows. ‘* Except in one unimportant case—the Dungeness Low Light, which flashes every five seconds—all the revolving lights of the English Channel are too slow, and it would be an unspeakable improvement if, with that exception, every one of them had its speed sextupled. There is no mechanical difficulty in the way of doing this. Generally the same mechanism would suffice with a mere change of adjustment of the governor; but the lightkeeper would have to wind up the weight oftener or longer. ‘* Revolving lights are, however, but a small minority of all the lighthouses of the world. Of the 623 lights of the British and Irish coasts, just 110 are revolving lights, and the remaining 513 are fixed, and there is a crying want of distinction for fixed lights. The distinction by colour alone ought to be prohibited for all lighthouse lights, on account of its liability to confusion with ships’ and steamers’ side-lights. Southsea Castle, with its red and green port and starboard side lights, seems as if actually planned to lure on to destruction an unsuspecting enemy carefully approaching the coast with Thomas Gray’s happy rule well impressed on his mind :— ** €Green to green, and red to red, Perfect safety, go ahead.’ He does so, and is wrecked on Southsea beach. “My proposal for supplying the want is to distinguish every fixed light by a rapid group of two or three dot-dash eclipses, the shorter, or dot, of about half a second dura- tion, and the dash three times as long as the dot, with intervals of light of about half a second between the eclipses of the group, and of five or six seconds between the groups, so that in no case should the period be more than ten or twelve seconds. This proposal has been carried into effect with perfect success in Holywood Bank Light, Belfast Lough, now the leading light for ships entering the Lough, but which until 1874 was inclosed in ared glass lantern and was only visible five miles, and was constantly liable to be mistaken for a sailing vessel’s port side light entering or leaving the harbour of Belfast, or the crowded anchorage of Whitehouse Roads. In 1874 the red glass was removed, and the light was marked by dot, dot, dash (— — - , or letter U), repeated every ten or twelve seconds, and has been so ever since. It is now recognised with absolute certainty practically as soon as seen in ordinary weather from the mouth of the Lough, ten miles off, and has proved most serviceable as leading light for ships bound for Belfast or entering the Lough. “Tt is much to be desired that the dot-dash system should be seriously considered by the lighthouse authori- ties of our islands... Hitherto, when attention has been called to it, it has been dismissed with a pleasantry, ‘Winking lights won’t do,’ or else something utterly different has been gravely considered and justly con- demned. It is satisfactory now to know that the Deputy- Master of the Trinity Board, Sir Richard Collinson, K.C.B., has, after its character was correctly put before him by the recent Select Committee of the House of Commons on Electric Lighting, given it his approval in the concluding answers of his evidence.” The 7zmes, in commenting on Sir William Thomson’s letter, speaks of the subject as one of great national im- portance, Sir William speaking with the twofold authority of a distinguished man of science and of a practical yachtsman. The 7Z%mes endorses emphatically all Sir William’s recommendations, and insists especially on doing away with colour as a distinctive feature of lights. “Tf” the Zzmes concludes, “the recommendations of Sir William Thomson should eventually lead to a reform of this importance and magnitude, he will be a benefac- tor to humanity; but even without this his advice cannot fail to commend itself to navigators. It bears one of the most distinctive marks of genius—simplicity ; and now that it has been brought fairly under the notice of the public, we may confidently hope that in the future, what- 110 -ever may have been the case in the past, it will not have to contend against that love for ‘the thing which has been’ which in all periods of history has afforded a dis- tinguishing characteristic of the average official intelli- gence. Ina nation of sailors and yachtsmen a suggestion for the improvement of lighthouses and for the greater safety of shipping ought to be certain of speedy and complete consideration upon its merits alone.’”’ THE TURKOMANS a the meeting of the Anthropological Institute on 4 November 23, there was read a short but suggestive paper on these wayward children of the desert, contributed by Prof. Arminius Vambéry. The learned writer, who thas perhaps as great a personal knowledge of Eastern nations as any man living, regarded the Turkomans as on the whole the purest and most representative branch -of the widespread Tiirki family and described their out- ward features as quite distinct from the Mongolian. His account was somewhat vague, but the inference evidently was that they belonged in his opinion ethnically to the Caucasian rather than to the Mongolian group. Nor did he attribute this to the gradual absorption of Iranian elements, but, on the contrary, stated that intermarriages with Persian women were much less frequent than is usually supposed, and that the Turkomans are now what they always have been, men of medium stature, like the ‘Kirghizes and unlike the Usbegs and Osmanlis, amongst whom tall individuals are far from rare, with straight or but very slightly oblique (“almond-shaped”) eyes, hand- some regular features and fair complexion. He further stated that the Turkoman language was also one of the very purest Tirki tongues still spoken, so much so, that an ordinary Seljukian Turk of Asia Minor would. have less difficulty in conversing with a Tekke or Yomut Turkoman than with his nearer neighbours the Turki nomads of Azarbijan and other parts of Persia. In fact, such is the purity of their speech, that the Rev. James Bassett, of the American Mission at Tehran, is now putting through the press in London his trans- Jation of St. Matthew’s Gospel in the Jagatai Tirki for the special use of the Tekke Turkomans. Jagatai, it need scarcely be remarked, is one of the most cultivated of all the Tartar tongues and is still current in Bokhara, Khiva, Ferghana, and parts of Kashgaria. In it are written the Emperor Baber’s memoirs, and being less affected by Arabic and Persian elements than the Osmanli of Constantinople, it may be taken as, on the whole, the most representative of Tirki idioms. Cn the other hand, the Tirki belongs undoubtedly to the same great linguistic ‘connection as the Mongolian, both being recognized by modern philologists as collateral, though independent, members of the so-called Finno-Tataric or Ural-Altaic family of Janguages. Hence Vambéry’s description of the physical characteristics of the Turkoman race places them in a sufficiently anomalous position from the anthro- pological point of view, in so far as they would seem to belong ethnically to the Caucasian, but linguistically to the Mongol stock. Such anomalies are, no doubt, common enough, and instances abound of peoples having changed their language and ‘adopted that of the races by whom they may have been subdued or otherwise influenced. But in the present case the difficulty cannot be got over in this way, nor is it pretended that the Turkomans have adopted a Mongolian form of speech, or indeed that they -ever spoke any other language than Tiki. But Tarki and Mongolian being offshoots of the same organic tongue, it follows that both races must have had a common origin, and that the Turkomans have since be- come differentiated from the ethnical, while retaining the linguistic connection. Now this is entirely at variance with the commonly-accepted doctrine that physical traits are always more persistent than speech, in other words NATURE (Dec. 4, 1879 that, assuming absolute isolation, the process of linguistic will always be more rapid than that of racial evolution. In the abstract this is no doubt true enough, but practi- cally there is no such thing as absolute isolation in the present stage of the world’s history. Least of all can it be predicated of the Turkomans, who are intruders from the east or north-east in their present habitat, who must have absorbed far more Iranian blood than Vambéry is inclined to admit, and who, instead of being the purest representatives of the Turki race, seem really to be a mongrel people, the outcome of fusion of Mongolian and Caucasian elements in Hyrcania, Bactriana, and the Lower Oxus basin. It must be remembered that the whole of this region, as far north at least as the 4oth parallel, formed an integral part of the ancient Persian Empire, and the presence of numerous Iranian communi- ties still speaking Persian dialects both in the lowlands and highlands of Turkestan (Tajiks and Galchas) suffi- ciently proves that this region was fairly occupied by peoples of Iranian stock, if, indeed, it was not their primitive home, before the arrival of the Turki race driven still westwards by the Mongolians of the Gobi. When the Persian power was finally broken by the Arabs, Turki hordes easily took permanent possession of the Atrek and Murghab Valleys, as well as of the Lower Oxus ; but in so doing they gradually absorbed as much Iranian blood as to have in course of time become largely assimilated to the Caucasian type. The same fate over- took their Seljukian brethren in Asia Minor and the Balkan peninsula, all of whom have everywhere become largely Aryanised, and have thus collectively contributed to produce the impression, shared by Vambéry with many ethnologists, that the Ttrki and Mongol types were originally distinct. They themseves have always rightly looked on each other as brethren, and although no im- portance can be attached to the tradition of a legendary Tiirk, son of Japhet, whence both sprang through the twin brothers Tatar and Mongol, it nevertheless points, like so many other national myths, at a fundamental truth. Nor are the Mongolian traits so far effaced from the Turkoman race as Vambéry would have us suppose. In “* Clouds in the East” Valentine Baker, an equally careful observer, describes them as “muscular, heavy-limbed men, with large hands, rather flat, broad faces, and small eyes, thus showing much of the Tatar type” (p. 212). He even expresses his surprise that it should still be so dis- tinctly marked, “as they constantly capture Persian girls, who become their wives, and so must bring a strong infusion of Persian blood into the race” (zd.). The genuine Tiki type, however, is still best exhibited in the Kazaks, or, as they are more frequently called, the Kirghizes and Kara-Kirghizes of the West Siberian steppes and Pamir table-land. These Kirghizes speak a pure Tirki dialect, and because of their distinctly Mon- golian features—square, flat face, high cheek bones, — oblique eyes, large mouth, &c.—they are supposed to be Mongolised Tatars by those who hold the two types to be originally distinct. But the supposition is entirely gra- tuitous, and although they may have been to some extent affected by Mongolian elements during the incessant migrations of the Central and Eastern Asiatic nations, there is nothing in their appearance to imply any pro- found modification of their outward features, while their Tirki speech militates against the assumption. They resemble the Mongolians because both were originally one, and because in their present homes between Kulja and the Ural Mountains they came in contact with no foreign elements by which the race could be seriously affected. In the Kirghizes we therefore recognise a living proof of the primordial identity of Turk and Mongol. The transition between the Kirghizes and Turkomans is formed by the Kipchaks of Khokand and other parts of Eastern Turkestan, who, though often classed with the Sg ol ll I ade il a Dec. 4, 1879) Mongolian Buryats,! are of the genuine Tirki stock, and speak a pure Tiirki language, though rude and marked by some distinct features. Touching the numbers and strength of the Turkoman tribes proper, opinions vary considerably. While Behm and Wagner reckon them at no more than 450,000, Vam- béry still adheres to the number of one million given in his “ Travels in Central Asia,” adding that further re- search may tend to increase, but certainly not to diminish that figure. This estimate is partly borne out by Gen. Obrutcheff,? who makes them amount in 1874 altogether to about 930,000, exclusive of the “ Eski-Turk” and other scattered members of the family in Asia Minor, North Syria, the Euphrates Valley, and Persia. In view of recent and pending political events,. the subjoined list of the Turkoman tribes with their localities and approximate numbers may be acceptable :— Tribe. Population. Locality. an GAkhal”.....; N, slopes Kuren-dagh and on co eae? Tejend River (Lower Heri- o 309, rfid). Fi(Merv ...... Merv Oasis. Goklan .........| 55,000 | Upper Atrek, Gurgan, and Simbur, and in Mazan- deran, + ( Atabai S.E. Coast Caspian, east- a \ wards to Kizil-Arvat, and ° 135,000 on Lower Oxus_ below » ( jastarbai Khiva. Bysard, ..1.c0e 300,000 | Left bank Oxus, about Char- jui; hence called “ Lebab” ; or ** River” Turkomans, LAIN ere 15,000 | Between Oxus and Afghan frontier. Chaudor ...... 30,co2?| Ust Urt plateau, east from N, end Caspian. AIOE ore sec 20,coo | About the Murghib between Merv and Herat. marti ho. Se 40,000 | Merv Oasis. Sakan ovis. 10,c00 ~=| About Sarakhs. Essen-lli ..... 115,000 | South from the Chaudor, Anr-Tli......... 15,000 | About Middle Oxus. - hacen ag a N. frontier Hazarajat. Kozanii......... 20,000 | Kozen Dagh (Taurus). Pekmeshli... Genkani ] Kecheli...... [ 30,090 | Euphrates Valleyand N. Syria. OO oe Rehanii...... J | I, 100,000 The discrepancy between this estimate and that of Obrutcheff is due to the fact that in the above list are included the Turkoman nomads of Asiatic Turkey, besides a large branch of the Goklans, some 8,000 families, now settled in Mazanderan. A. H. KEANE DISCOVERY OF A GASEOUS NEBULA HE Rev. T. W. Webb writes as follows to the Zzes on the subject of Lord Lindsay’s letter in NATURE last week :— On the night of November 14, while sweeping in the constellation Cygnus with a low power on my 9°38 inch silvered speculum by With, I perceived an object resem- bling, but not quite identical with, a bluish 9 magnitude star. The use of higher magnifiers at once detected the existence of an ill-defined bright disk, subtending about * “Le nom de Bouroute leur est absolument inconnu” (Ch. de Ujfalvy in Bul. de la Soc. de Géographie for June, 1878). ? In the Russian statistical work, ‘* Sbornik,’ iii. p. 80. —_- NATURE re og S Kat > sa Irf 4", and surrounded perhaps with a slight amount of glow. It has since been identified at other observatories as No. 4,004 in Argelander, + 41, the place for 1880 being R.A., 2th, 2m. 31s.; D., + 41°45'°3. Through the kindness of Dr. Copeland, by whom it has been carefully examined under the greatest instrumental advantages at Lord Lind- say's observatory at Dunecht, North Britain, I am enabled to add the following interesting particulars. It is not circular, and has a sharp nucleus near the north-preceding” edge, with a faintzeffusion of light in the opposite direc— tion. Three very measurable bright lines were found ina powerful spectroscope, of which the positions, as given by” two sets of measures, were respectively 500°I, 495'7, 487'0,° and 500°1, 495°6, 4860. When these values are com- pared with those deduced by D’ Arrest from the results of several observers of known objects of this nature— 500°4, 495°7, 486°1—there can be no remaining doubt that the object in question is of the very interesting and mysterious class termed planetary, or, more correctly, gaseous nebulz. Dr. Copeland assigns 8, 5, and 1, as the approximate intensities of these lines, reckoning from the least refrangible direction. It can occasion no sur- prise that its true characters should have escaped the piercing and practised gaze of Argelander, as it would require a much larger instrument than that which he employed to give any intimation of its nature. A NEW PLANETARIUM IGNOR N. PERINI, of Garrick Chambers, Garrick Street, has invented a planetarium, which, so far as we are aware is in all respects superior to, more vraisemblable than, any apparatus of the kind hitherto attempted. The structure, for such it really is, consists first of a hemispherical dome, fourteen feet in diameter at the base and the same in height, resting on twelve columns. Getting underneath the dome, one sees the vault overhead coloured so as to represent the starry sky, with the milky way and the constellations in their proper places. Suspended from the top by a narrow hollow rod is an opal globe lit up by gas or electricity to represent the sun, and around this, at their proper proportional distances, are suspended by almost invisible wires, the planets from Mercury to Uranus. By a slight turn of a key Signor Perini sets the solar system in motion, when the sun revolves on its axis, and all the planets in their proper ¢//iptical orbits and at their proper axial inclination, and with proportionate velocity. Saturn has his rings and the other planets their moons ; the earth, about the size of a walnut, by a mechanism peculiar to itself, revolves on its axis at a rate accurately proportioned, the same mechanism causing the moon, a small pearl, to revolve round the earth in its own proper orbit. Round the base of the dome the various signs of the zodiac are indicated, and the paths of the planets are shown by ellipses traced around the vault. The spectator is supposed to be standing somewhere under- neath the solar system, and the general effect is very striking. To us it seems the most effective method hitherto devised to convey to old or young a realistic conception of the arrangement and motions of the planets. During the working of the mechanism not a sound is heard, though above the dome, and concealed from view is an elaborate arrangement of machinery. This machinery is of the nature of clockwork, with, how- ever, a special feature by means of which the elliptica? motions of the planets are effected. Inside the earth is a watchwork arrangement, which could easily be adapted to the other planets were it not for the expense. When wound the machinery can be kept going continuously for upwards of five hours ; it can be stopped at any moment, The invention has, we believe, cost Signor Perini seven ears’ unremitting work and sevea hundred pounds ex- penditure. We believe that the work has all been done 112 NATURE ’ [Dec. 4, 1879 P at night and during early morning hours, as the inventor has to give his daytime to his profession of teacher. Signor Perini informs us that he could without difficulty make his planetarium as large as the Albert Hall and small enough to become a school apparatus for teaching. He showed us a table, like a small writing-table, between the tops of which he had arranged his machinery on a small scale to give motion to a tellurium which he fits on to the table. Ofcourse the invention, as indeed Signor Perini admits, may be capable of improvements in detail, but as it stands it seeins to us a triumph of ingenuity and determined perseverance, for which its inventor deserves the highest credit. A MICROSCOPIC SERENADE* O COME, my love, and seek with me A realm by grosser eye unseen, Where fairer forms will welcome thee, And dainty creatures hail thee queen. In silent pools the tube I’ll ply, Where green conferva-threads lie curled, And proudly bring to thy bright eye The trophies of the protist world. We'll rouse the stentor from his lair, And gaze into the cyclops’ eye; In chara and nitella hair The protoplasmic stream descry, Forever weaving to and fro With faint molecular melody ; And curious rotifers I’ll show, And graceful vorticellidze. Where melicertz ply their craft We'll watch the playful water-bear, And no envenomed hydra’s shaft Shall mar our peaceful pleasure there ; But while we whisper love’s sweet tale We’ll trace, with sympathetic art, Within the embryonic snail The growing rudimental heart. Where rolls the volvox sphere of green, And plastids move in Brownian dance,— If, wandering ’mid that gentle scene, Two fond amcebz shall perchance * From Scribner's Monthly Magazine for November. Be changed to one beneath our sight By process of biocrasis, We'll recognise, with rare delight, A type of our prospective bliss, O dearer thou by far to me In thy sweet maidenly estate Than any seventy-fifth could be, Of aperture however great ! Come, go with me, and we will stray Through realm by grosser eye unseen, Where protophytes shall homage pay, And protozoa hail thee queen. Jacop F. HENRICE JOHN ALLAN BROUN [t is only a few weeks ago that it became our painful duty to record the untimely death of a distinguished mathematical and experimental physicist, and we have now to mourn the loss of one equally distinguished in observational inquiry. John Allan Broun was born at Dumfries, where his father had, we believe, a normal school especially intended for young men about to enter the navy. Upon the death of his father, Mr. Broun,. then about twenty years of age, went to the University of Edinburgh, and speedily became a successful student in more than one branch of knowledge. But his strongest attachment was always to physical science, and the late — James D. Forbes, who was at that time Professor of Natural Philosophy at Edinburgh, considered Mr. Broun as one of his very best pupils. A friendship was thus formed which lasted through life. About 1842 the scientific world began to perceive the necessity of conducting cosmical inquiries, and Sir Thomas McDougal Brisbane, in the most generous manner, agreed to establish and maintain a magnetical observatory at his residence at Makerstoun. Prof. Forbes had thus the opportunity of recommending his pupil, Mr. Broun, to Sir Thomas, who gave him the directorship of his observatory. In this capacity he con- tinued to reside 2t Makerstoun for some years, where the delight of pursuing an occupation congenial to his tastes was enhanced by the great pleasure he derived from the society of Sir Thomas Brisbane, and of his amiable family, and their loss one after another was a very severe trial to him. It was no slight task to super- intend an institution such as this in a branch of science then comparatively new, and Mr. Broun laboured so hard at his duties that he began to have palpitation of the heart, caused, probably, by his constant night watches. In consequence of this he obtained as his assistant Mr. John Welsh, who became one of his warmest friends, and who afterwards, as Director of the Kew Observatory, won for himself a high reputation in the course of a life that was, unhappily, very short. Mr. Broun left Makerstoun in 1850 and went to Paris, where he formed the acquaintance of the lady who was afterwards his wife, Isaline Vallouy, the daughter of a clergyman in the Canton du Vaud, and belonging to an old Protestant family of Dauphiné (du val Louise) who had fled from France at the Revolution. This lady is now left to mourn his loss. From this marriage he had three sons and two daughters. Of his sons one is an architect, one has just left this country to enter upon his duties as | civilservant in the North-West Provinces of India, while another, in preparation for the Indian forest department, is finishing his studies at Nancy. In 1851, through the influence of his friend, Col. Sykes, Mr. Broun was ap~ pointed director of the Trevandrum Observatory, an institution supported by His Highness the Rajah of Travancore, and he left this country for India in the same year. Of the scientific value of his work in India we will speak later on; but we may remark that it was attended with many difficulties. He wished amongst other things to have observations at different heights, and the great difficulties which the carrying out of this plan required have been more or less recorded in his various reports. We say more or less, for it may be questioned whether his reports, so admirable in every other respect, do full justice to himself and to those difficulties which he successfully overcame. Mr. Broun, we believe, advanced on his own responsibility the funds necessary for this experiment, but he was after- wards reimbursed. A deafness which never left him began in one of his excursions on the hills with these objects in view. He had been observing all day in the hot sun—in the evening he took a bath and got a chill from the hill breeze after it. He came back to Europe in 1866 in the hope that medical treatment might remove his deafness, returning to India for three years more. After having finally left India he resided first in Lausanne in Switzerland, and then in Stuttgart in Germany, where his whole time was devoted to the preparation of the first volume of the results of the Trevandrum observations. This cost him an immense amount of labour without rest or recreation of any kind, except perhaps an hour or two devoted in the evening to music with his family. He was a skilled violinist, and was particularly fond of ~Beethoven’s music. In London, where he resided for the last six years of his life, he gave his whole time and energy to the prosecution of the work he had in hand, so much so that even in taking a walk the subject would always be present to his thoughts. Two years ago his health began to give way, and he left London for the New Forest, achange which seemed for a time to be of service to his health. But again, after another year, he found that continued work was affecting his brain, and during a stay at Lynton (Devonshire) he had in 1878 akind of nervous attack, which was the beginning of his last illness. He never altogether rallied after this attack, and was much distressed last winter at being obliged to cease from all work, but he bore this trial with much meekness and gentleness of manner to all around him. Being rather worse in the spring, he made up his mind to go to Switzerland in search of strength, and after a few weeks of much weakness spent at Bex, he began to rally and to enjoy the walks in that beautiful neighbourhood. From there he went to Finhaut, Chamouny, and Téte Noire, and greatly enjoyed his daily excursions in the Mountain paths and over the hills; indeed he used to say that they made him feel quite young again. At first after his return to London he complained of his ‘head, but he seemed stronger again just before his death, and worked a few hours daily. He had begun an article for NATURE, and assured his family that he did not overfatigue himself. On the 22nd of last month hedied suddenly. He took up the newspaper in the morning to glance at it near the fire. He had not done so for five minutes when he said, “T think I am going to faint.” Medical aid was at once procured, but he had a kind of suffocation for two or three minutes, and all was over. _ In reviewing the life and labours of John Allan Broun it is impossible to fence off that portion of his character which relates to science, and discuss it without reference to the other parts of his nature. To do so would be to throw away the key of the very chamber which we wish to enter. He was a man of the most scrupulous integrity, of the most sensitive conscience. But this extreme scrupulosity did not prevent him from appearing in the most amiable _ character to his fellow men; for he was at the same time a man of the most delicate social instincts, and emi- nently qualified to shine in society; a very warm friend and a very good companion. If any one suffered from his scrupulous nature it was himself, or, to speak more properly, it was that portion of his surroundings which goes by the name of “material interests.” It is of course NATURE . 113 a mistake to suppose that the highest interests of any man can ever suffer from his being honest. He was a devoted adherent to the Free Church of Scotland, and at a time when subscription to certain formulz was insisted on from the professors at the Scot- tish Universities, his conscientious scruples stood in the way of his obtaining any appointment of this nature. Had it not been for these he might, no doubt, have had the chair of Practical Astronomy at Edinburgh, or that of Natural Philosophy at St. Andrews. And here we may be permitted to quote a few sentences from a letter written by Prof. Forbes to Sir James Graham (then Home Secretary) urging the claims of Mr. Broun to the former of these posts. After describing the scientific qualifications requisite for an astronomer, he goes on to say :—‘‘ But beyond all these may be reckoned a con- scientious zeal in the discharge of a duty, often irksome, generally solitary, without which the observatory estab- lishment is not only useless but injurious. In these respects I can cordially recommend Mr. Broun to the favourable notice of Government from more than six years’ intimate acquaintance with him. . . . He was sub- sequently selected by Sir Thomas Brisbane to direct the noble magnetical and astronomical observatory, erected . and maintained by his liberality at his seat near Kelso. . . . You are aware how much labour and ingenuity have been expended in devising magnetic instruments and experiments. You must be aware of the skill and patience required to conduct such experiments, of a kind almost new, and with instruments whose actions and errors are almost untried. Now from frequent examination of Mr. Broun’s methods, I think I am justified in saying that not one of the magnetical observatories under the direction of Her Majesty’s Government has been more vigorously managed than that of Sir T. Brisbane, conducted by Mr. Broun, and probably none with more intelligence and ingenuity.” We cannot help feeling that during the latter years of his life, while he resided in London, Mr. Broun might have received a somewhat larger measure than was accorded him of generous and sympathetic treatment from those specially interested in the progress of observa- tional inquiry. Possessed of no considerable amount of private means, he was living upon a small pension which he had from the Rajah of Travancore, and which has now expired with him. He had been led to believe that one of his labours after leaving India would be to super- intend the reduction of his observations. But the publi- cation of these reductions was discontinued after the first volume of results appeared, and, in consequence, a large mass of valuable observations made at considerable cost is now lying absolutely useless. ; Surely the course of action which will establish and maintain an observatory, and then decline to make public the records is only comparable in folly with that of a man who begins to build a house which he is not able to finish. It was a source of great sorrow to Mr. Broun that he was thus prevented from completing what he might justly consider to be the work of his life, and he then en- deavoured to procure some employment by which, while advancing his favourite science, he might likewise add to his somewhat slender resources. About that time the meteorological office of this country was in process of reconstruction and he had thoughts of offering his services as one of the meteorological council. It was clear how- ever that his deafness would be considered by those in power as a fatal disqualification for such an appointment, and in consequence he did not press his claims. It certainly seems a great pity that a national institution of this nature so liberally endowed by government should have allowed a man like John Allan Broun to die in their midst without attempting to avail themselves in some becoming and honourable manner of those large stores of ‘ 114 NATURE [Dec. 4, 1879 information peculiarly suited to their purpose which he alone of all men living possessed, and which he was particularly anxious to communicate to others. About this time too, Sir E. Sabine resigned his office of magnetical superintendent, and it might naturally have been supposed that Mr. Broun was the very man to succeed him. The office was, however, discontinued. He now made application to the Government Fund of the Royal Society for a sum of money to enable him to improve and complete the reduction of the Colonial magnetic observations. But the immediate and apparent responsibility from quarter to quarter of the possessor of such grants, was peculiarly fatal to a man like Broun. The work seemed to go on growing the more he examined it, and he was never satisfied without going still more deeply into the subject than he had already gone. Then his health began to give way, and the thought that he had received money for which he had rendered no equivalent hastened still more the progress of his malady. At last the end came, and we can now hope no longer to complete his labours as he would have himself com- pleted them had he been spared to us but a little longer. It has been said of an eminent experimentalist that great as were his successes, his failures must have cost him even more thought. If this be true in experimental research, it is peculiarly true in observational inquiry where every idea in order to be tested entails a laborious investigation. Mr. Broun, whose mind was very fertile, must have often spent great labour apparently to no purpose, but on the other hand his successes were very marked, and he did not hesitate to consider a new fact as abundant compensation for a large amount of failure. We cannot attempt to give here an exhaustive catalogue of his various labours. But we may allude to the volumes embracing the results of the Makerstoun observations as pre-eminent for the skill employed in the development of new methods. These volumes alone must have cost him an immense amount of thought. In 1861 he communicated to the Royal Society of Edinburgh, two papers of marked value. In one of these the errors and corrections of the bifilar magnetometer were discussed, including the determination of its temperature coefficient, which Mr. Broun showed might be found in a more correct method than that hitherto adopted. The second of these papers was on the horizontal force of the earth’s magnetism, for which he established the annual laws from a discussion of observations taken at various places. Helikewise discovered that the variations of this element from day to day are nearly the same over all the world. For these discoveries he was awarded the Keith Medal of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. We have already alluded to the great labour he spent upon the first volume of the “Results of the Trevandrum Observations.” In this volume conclusions of the greatest scientific interest are deduced, and Mr. Broun has been able to give in a complete form the laws which regulate the solar-diurnal variation of magnetic declination near the equator. But his researches regarding the lunar-diurnal variation of this element form perhaps the most original and interesting part ofthe volume. He has claims to be considered as an inde- pendent discoverer of this variation, and he has certainly increased our knowledge of its laws more than any other magnetician. We may mention his observation that the lunar action was reversed at sunrise and that it was much greater during the day than during the night, whether the moon was above or below the horizon, as particularly noteworthy and likely to throw much light on the theory of the subject. We have already alluded to Mr. Broun’s discovery of the similarity, all the world over, of the changes from day to day of the earth’s horizontal force. Certain of these changes he found to be due to the moon, while others had a period of | Haweis, ‘Old Violins ;” February 27, twenty-six days. These last he attributed to solar action, and in discussing the subject he found that the greater magnetic disturbances were apparently due to actions proceeding from particular meridians of the sun, This is a subject of very great importance, and its exact meaning has yet to be discovered. Mr. Broun was no less eminent as a meterologist than as amagnetician. His observations regarding the baro- meter are of the greatest importance. In this branch of inquiry he has shown the apparent simultaneity of the changes of mean barometric pressure over a great part of theglobe, andhe has likewise discovered a period of twenty- six days. He was the first to commence those syste- matic observations of clouds at various altitudes that are now so extensively made, and in a paper read not long since before the Royal Society of London, of which body he was an old member, he pointed out certain relations between atmospheric motions andthe directions of the lines of equal barometric pressure. For his various researches, he obtained in 1878, just one year before his death, the Royal Medal of that Society. These are only a few‘of the many labours of one whose loss, so deeply felt by all his friends, may be regarded as a calamity by the cultivators of meteorology and magnetism, branches of knowledge in which he was second to none who has yet appeared. BALFOUR, STEWART NOTES Dr. WARREN DE LA Rue, F.R.S., has just sent to the Chemical Society Research Fund a third donation of 100/., the whole amount to be devoted to a single research. In the person of Lady Sabine, who ‘died at Ashley Place on the 28th ult., at the age of seventy-two years, a woman of most remarkable clearness of intellect and of power of memory has passed away. In 1827 she married Sir Edward (then Captain) Sabine, and for more than fifty years her main occupation and her chief enjoyment was to assist him in his investigations, espe- cially in terrestrial magnetism. None but her most intimate friends can know how much of the laborious calculations in the “* Contributions ” were really effected by her, while she translated Humboldt’s ‘* Cosmos” and ‘‘Ansichten der Natur,” besides numerous smaller papers. One of their oldest friends has truly said, ‘I deeply sympathise with Sir Edward ; the death of his wife has rendered the number of beautiful lives in the world one less.” THE following are the probable arrangements for the Friday evening meetings before Easter, 1880, at the Royal Institution :— January 16, Prof. Dewar, F.R.S.; January 23, Dr. W. B. Carpenter, C.B., F.R.S., ‘Sea and Land in Relation to Geo- logical Time ;” January 30, John Marshall, F.R.S., ‘* Propor- tions of the Human Figure ;” February 6, William Huggins, D.C.L., F.R.S.; February 13, W- H. Preece, C.E., “‘ Wheat- stone’s Telegraphic Achievements ;” February 20, Rev. H. R. Frederick J. Bramwell, F.R.S.; March 5, H. N. Moseley, F.R.S., “Deep-Sea Dredging and Life in the Deep Sea ;” March 12, C. William Siemens, D.C.L., F.R.S. ; March 19, Prof, Tyndall, D.C.L., F.R.S. The following are the lecture arrangements before Easter :—Christmas Lectures (adapted to a juvenile auditory) : Prof, Tyndall, D.C.L., F.R.S., six lectures on “ Water and Air,” on December 27 (Saturday), 30, 1879, January 1, 3, 6, 8, 1880; Prof, Edward A, Schafer, F.R.S., ten lectures on ‘* The Physiology of Muscle,” on Tuesdays, January 13 to March 16; H. Heathcote Statham, two lectures on * Modern Architecture since the Renaissance,” on Thursdays, January 15 and 22 ; Prof. Dewar, F.R.S., eight Jectures on ** Recent Chemical Progress,” on Thursdays, January 29 to March 18 ; Prof. T. Rupert Jones, al i i a ‘FRS., three lectures on ‘Coal,” on Saturdays, January 17, 24, 31; Ernst Pauer, three lectures on ‘‘ Handel, Sebastian Bach, and Joseph Haydn” (with musical illustrations), on Saturdays, February 7, 14, 21; four lectures on “History of Literature,” on Saturdays, February 28, March 6, 13, 20. Ar the request of the Government of the Cape Colony and the trustees of the South African Library at Cape Town, Sir Bartle Frere has desired Prof. Max Miiller and Prof. Sayce to select a qualified successor to the late Dr. Bleek, to continue his labours as colonial philologist and as custodian of the valuable library presented to the colony by Sir George Grey. The salary will be 500/, a year, of which 300/. will be contributed by the Government, and 200/, by the committee of the South African Public Library. Applications and testimonials only may be sent to Prof. Max Miiller, Oxford. THE lectures in connection with the Brown Institution will be delivered by Mr. W. S. Greenfield at the University of London on December 17, 18, 19, 22, and 23 at 5.30 P.M. The subject will be ‘‘ Recent Investigations on the Pathology of Infective and Contagious Diseases.” Tue French Minister of Public Instruction has appointed a section of the Commission of Historical Monuments for the pur- pose of establishing an official record of all megalithic construc- tions and erratic blocks discovered in France and Algiers, THE grants voted by the Legislative Assembly of France for 1880 have been sent to the Senate, and according to every probability will be voted without any material alteration. The sum of 59 millions of francs was -voted for public instruction, 24 millions more than were asked for by the Government. In 1870 the grants for.educational purposes were 26 millions and in 1851 only 16 millions. Among the items in the grants are the following :—The grant for the National Institute is 707,762 fr., for the Academy of Medicine 75,000 fr., the College of France 466,oo0fr., the Museum of Natural History 835,000 fr., for astronomical and meteorological observatories $35,000 fr., for the National Library 674,000 fr., for the National Library and Museum of Algiers 296,000 fr., travelling expenses for explorers 200,000 fr,, Ecole des Hautes Etudes (conducting experiments, &ce., &c.) 300,000 fr. ; THE Edinburgh Liberals, who have had a week ‘of almost uninterrupted oratory from their idol, Mr, Gladstone, have been impressing science into their service, in order that Mr, Glad- stone’s voice might reach a much larger audience than any single hall in Edinburgh could hold. On Saturday he addressed an audience in the largest hall in Edinburgh, the Corn Exchange ; but as this could not anything like hold the multitude that wanted to hear him, it was connected by telephone with another hall at some distance. We shall let the Daily News correspon- dent describe the result of the arrangement : —‘‘ The audience distinctly heard the cheering and singing of the meeting in the Corn Exchange, and also the strains of the band. Lord Rose- berry’s voice was also recognised, and it was gathered that he was saying pleasant things about Mr. Gladstone. Next came a burst of cheering, the sound of which was suddenly stopped, and a long interval of silence followed, varied from time to time by the murmur of distant cheers, Then as suddenly as silence had fallen, there came the sound of Mr, Gladstone’s voice, and he was followed jretty well through ‘some remarks on corn averages and the condition of India.’ All this, which greatly mystified the telephonic audience, is capable of easy explanation, Observers of Mr, Gladstone’s manner in the House of Commons will remember what an important part the right hon, gentleman’s hat plays in his great speeches. He invariably places it on the table, a little to one side of him, and on the top of it he places his notes, which he rapidly shuffles and re-arranges as the oration 115. progresses. ‘This afternoon, bringing his hat to the table in his accustomed manner, he unconsciously planted it right in front of the cylinder of the telephone which had been fixed on the table, thus, of course, cutting off the means of communication. As the speech proceeded, he began the re-arrangement of the papers and the movement of the hat, which latter he finally drew away from the telephone, and then became audible in another building a quarter of a mile off, ‘some remarks on corn averages, and the condition of India.’” It isa pity Mr, Gladstone had not been put up to the arrangement; we are quite sure, had he known,{he would not have adopted so ‘‘ obstructive” a line of action with his hatful of papers. A NEw light company has started a public subscription in Paris for 80,000/, The inventor proposes to dispense with magneto- electric machines, by resorting to Bunsea elements of special construction, and to dispense with regulators by incandescent light. Animmense number of prospectuses have been circulated amongst the peasantry, and the funds are collecting with an amazing rapidity. Scribner’s Monthly, one of the best monthlies anywhere, has an interesting illustrated article in the December number on the Johns Hopkins University. A coMPETITION having been opened for erecting a memorial of the siege of Paris on the Rond Pont of Courbevoie, M. Bartholdi, the author of} the gigantic statue representing the French-America alliance, has executed a model representing a balloon with a sailor aéronaut and the beseiged city receiving messages from a carrier-pigeon. The ensemd/e is grand and pic- turesque. It has raised the enthusiasm of Paris aéronauts, who are to make a public demonstration in support of M. Bartholdi’s schemes. THE Colonies of November 22 contains a long and valuable list of works on Commercial Botany, drawn up by Messrs. G. J. Symons and P. L. Simmonds. THE new part of Mr. Bentham and Sir Jos. Hooker's “Genera Plantarum” will be published in January, and will complete the Dicotyledonz. Only one other part, the Mono- cotyledonz, will remain to be published. On November 21 M. Mariette-Bey read, before the Academy of Inscriptions of Paris, a long report on the new excavations which are to be executed in Egypt. This address having been delivered in a solemn meeting of the Academy, it is certain that the illustrious Egyptologist will obtain a grant from the French Government. Tue Kolnische Zeitung says that a rack railway, of the Righi type, will be erected on the Drachenfels, one of the seven hills situated on the left bank of the Rhine. The survey of the intended line is proceeding with activity. Tue Kane Geyser, or spouting water-well, has lately attracted much attention from the sight-seeing public. Some exact data regarding it are furnished in a recent notice by Mr, Ashburner (Amer. Fo. of Sci. and Arts, November). The well is situated in the valley of Wilson’s Run, near the Philadelphia and Erie railway-line, and four miles south-east from Kane, It was- drilled in the spring of 1878 to a depth of 2,000 feet, but, as no petroleum was found in paying quantities, the casing was drawn and the hole abandoned. In drilling, fresh-water veins were met with down to 364 feet, which was the limit of the casing. At 1,415 feet a very heavy ‘‘ gas-vein” was struck, and this gas was allowed free escape while the drilling was continued to 2,020 feet. When the well was abandoned, the fresh water flowed. in, and the conflict between the water and gas com- menced. The water flows into the well on top of the gas till the pressure of the confined gas becomes greater than the weight of the superincumbent water, when an expulsion takes place,. ‘ 116 NATURE [Dec. 4, 1879 and a column of water and gas is thrown up to a great height. This occurs at present at regular intervals of thirteen minutes and the spouting continues for one and a half minutes. The column, according to measurement, varied in height from 108 to 138 feet. The gas of the mixture can be readily ignited, After nightfall the spectacle is grand. The antagonistic elements of fire and water are so promiscuously blended that each seems to be fighting for the mastery. At one moment the flame is almost entirely extinguished, only to burst forth at the next instant with increased energy and greater brilliancy. During sunshine the spray forms an artificial rainbow, and in winter the columns be- come incased in huge transparent ice-chimneys. WE have received the numbers for October and November of the Natural History Journal ‘‘conducted by the Societies in Friends’ Schools.” This journal, continues to sustain its reputation, and several papers in these numbers are highly creditable. THE Colonies and India states that a new store of guano has lately been discovered ina series of caves about 100 miles east of Cape Town. It is described as being a light-brown powdery mass, in which a number of solid nodules occur, An analysis shows that it contains 68 per cent. of ammonia compounds, 16 per cent. of phosphates, and 2 per cent. of nitrogen, In the same caves are considerable quantities of salts, forming a crystalline mass, and containing 33 per cent. of phosphoric acid, 11 per cent. of sulphuric acid, 15 per cent. of nitric acid, 19 per cent. of potash, and 7 per cent, of ammonia. ConsuL CALVERT, reporting on the trade and commerce of Alexandria for 1878, thus refers to the new fodder plant, the Téosinté (Zuchlena luxurians), which has attracted so much attention lately in tropical countries. During the last three or four years experiments have been made at Cairo and attended with complete success, and it is expected that it will eventually prove to be a great acquisition to Egyptian agriculture, The plant attains the height of from thirteen to sixteen feet, and so rapid is its growth that in an experiment made in July at Cairo the plant after having been mown down grew one foot in four days. On analysis the plant is found to contain much saccha- rine matter, and to be much more nourishing for animals than the native clover or verseem ( Trifolium alexandrinum), UNDER the title of ‘‘ Notes on the Flora of Surrey,” a list of plants known to occur in the five adjoining counties, but not really known in Surrey, has been published by Mr. A. Bennett, of 107, High Street, Croydon, who has issued the list ‘‘as a first step towards a proposed supplement to the flora of the county, and with the wish that those botanists who may be able to help will kindly do so, either in confirming by specimens any . doubtful plants reported for the county, or by giving the localities where they may be gathered, so that search may be made next season.” Mr. Bennett’s list is a useful one, though the botanical nomenclature has been very carelessly corrected, if indeed corrected at all. Mr. CHARLES GILBERT, of Bedford Street, has published **Tables of Metric Measures and their English Equivalents,” by G. M, Barns, for use by engineers, architects, contractors, and others. WE some time ago announced the death of the librarian of the ** Leopoldino-Karolinische’”’ Academy for Natural Sciences, Dr. Behn, of Dresden, The statutes of the Academy prescribe that the library must be at the librarian’s place of residence. Conse- quently the whole library, consisting of some 40,000 volumes, has been transferred to Halle, where Dr, H. Knoblauch is the new librarian, In a lecture delivered at Bristol by Mr, Lant Carpenter, he spoke of his recent visit to the United States, and remarked that amongst the various improvements and things which were being tried there, one that struck him as much as anything was the extraordinary development within the last two or three years of the application of electricity to the purposes of practical life. He gave several remarkable examples of the way in which the system is applied in the United States for the protection of safes, vaults, and other valuable property, alarms being rung in a central office whenever a forcible entrance was attempted in any one of, say, 500 vaults, the alarm indicating which one. In many cities and towns in the States, he said, there were district tele- graphs established. From a central office wires ran to every private house in the district which wished to be connected, and by this means you could communicate with the central office, and by a prearranged set of signals on a bell, the inmates of the house could call a cab, a policeman, a messenger, or a doctor, by simply pulling a handle. The lecturer, in speaking of the practical application of electricity to a system of fire alarms, ex- plained the general system pursued in all large towns in the United States, and spoke of the extraordinary rapidity with which fire-engines are turned out ready for use on receipt of the electric signal. Six or eight seconds was the usual time. Electric signal boxes were fixed in the streets, and any person, on be- coming aware of a fire, could turn a handle and communicate at once with the central stations, where the officials would know from which box the signal came. An automatic system was at work in New York, where 500 shops, stores, and warehouses were protected by an apparatus which sounded an alarm ina central office whenever the temperature of any place rose above a given point. Mr. Carpenter stated that in all large towns in the United States of America there was a system of telephone exchanges established, It was a system by which a large number of persons had these telephones in their houses, the wires of which all converged in a central office, and by such an arrange- ment any one of the subscribers to the exchange could talk to any other person who was also a subscriber through the central office. The wire from each house ended in the central offices, and by simple arrangements any one wire could be readily joined to any other, thus putting two people into communication, The lecturer gave instances of this arrangement, explaining that so perfectly were these telephones constructed that a person’s voice could be readily and easily recognised. The lecturer proceeded to -comment upon their recent extraordinary and rapid development in every large town in the United States. The subscribers to these exchanges were numbered by thousands, and their uses and advantages were many. Not only were they now connecting different parts of one town by means of these exchanges, but steps were being actively taken to connect towns together by similar means. In conclusion, the lecturer urged that if science, practically applied, was to form so large a portion of our daily life, was not that a very strong argument for so arranging our educational work that every child should be in- structed in the rudiments of science? Dr, W. B. Carpenter, having been invited to address the meeting, said he felt convinced that in the next generation the telephone would become almost as generally used as the telegraph was now, though he did not mean to say the latter would be superseded. AN interesting Roman structure has recently been discovered at Regensburg (Ratisbon). It consists of a subterranean aqueduct of some so metres in length, 1} metres in height, and 60 centi- metres in breadth, built of colossal blocks of stone. THE additions to the Zoological Society’s Gardens during the past week include a Common Wood Owl (Syrnium aluco), European, presented by Mr. W. J. Smith ; a Turquoisine Parra- keet (Lephema pulchella) from New South Wales, presented by Mr. A. Battescombe; a Macaque Monkey (AZacacus cynomolgus) from India, a Barbary Falcon (Falco barbarus) from North Africa, deposited ; a Reeves’s Muntjac (Cervulus reevesi), born in the Gardens, i —- OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN © A Sevenru S7ar oF THE ORION-TRAPEZIUM.—In addition to the well-known fifth and sixth stars in the trapezium of Orion, the former detected by Struve with the Dorpat refractor on November 11, 1826, and the latter by Sir John Herschel with Sir James South’s large refractor at Kensington, on February 13, 1830, the elder Bond, soon after the mounting of the Harvard instrument, perceived, roughly in the direction of the sixth star, a fainter and more distant one, which is No, 24 of his memoir on the nebula published in 1848. M. O. Struve, with the telescope of similar dimensions at Pulkowa, could not see this star, a circumstance which might be attributable either to variability, or to the difference of altitude of the object at Pulkowa and at Harvard College. It was repeatedly observed by G. P. Bond, and is No. 636 of his catalogue printed in Azma/s of the Astro- nomical Observatory of Harvard College, vol. v., where its magnitude is estimated to be 13°3 on Argelander’s scale. The Pulkowa measures gave for the sixth star position 128°°8, distance 3°73 at the epoch 1858°78; from the Harvard differences of right ascension and declination we find, for the seventh star, position 136°, distance 12”*r, In Bond’s later notes the following references to this star, amongst others, occur :—1863, January 19 and 23, difficult; January 30, easy, though faint; February 14, not difficult, though requiring atten- tion and effort. 1864, February 3, under fine definition, though easily seen, probably fainter than in the previous year; February 29, readily seen and possibly brighter. Referring to the notes in 1850 and 1851, it is remarked that the star is ‘‘often men- tioned in these earlier observations ; as certainly seen on the dates 1850, February 7, March 2, March 5, March 11; it is not mentioned March ro, and was not seen March 12; not men- tioned 1850, December 27, but seen again 1851, February 3.” It was observed on several occasions in 1859 and 1860, On January 28, 1861, seen by glimpses, and on February 13 easily. On January 31, 1862, not seen. Some of these observations might appear to point to variability, but others seem to afford “another and quite different explanation of the phenomena.” If we are not mistaken, this seventh star has been recently caught up with the Ealing reflector; but there are other tele- Scopes in this country which should be competent to cope with it, and the star may deserve some attention. Lunar Ec iipses.—In the small eclipse of the moon (magni- tude 0°17) which will occur on the 28th of the present month, the first contact with the shadow takes place at Greenwich at 3h. 37m. P.M., and the last contact at 5h. 15m.; the moon rises at 3h. 46m. Of the eight lunar eclipses occurring within the following five years, only one, that of October 4, 1884, will be wholly visible in this country. The circumstances of these eclipses may be thus very briefly indicated :— 1880, June 22.—Invisible, the middle at rh. 50m, P.M. Dec. 16.—Total ; beginning of total phase at 2h. 54m. P.M., the moon rising at 3h! 46m. 1881, June 12.—Invisible, the middle at 6h. 54m. A.M. Dec. 5.—Nearly total (0°97); first contact with the shadow at 3h. 28m, P.M., the moon rising at 3h. 50m. 1883, April 22.— Invisible, the middle at 11h. 39m. A.M. Oct. 16,—First contact with shadow at 5h. 59m. A.M., the moon setting at 6h, 25m. 1884, April 10.—Invisible, the middle near noon. Oct. 4.—Total, visible throughout, the middle soon after 10 P.M. PARALLAX OF A SMALL STAR,—Dr. Geelmuyden, of the Observatory at Christiania, by a series of observations extending over more than twelve months, finds ‘‘a notable parallax” for the ninth magnitude star, No, 11677 in Oeltzen’s Catalogue from Argelander’s northern zones. This star has a proper motion of 304 in the direction 274°. The parallax appears to amount to about 0”'25, but the result is considered far from definitive. The position of this star is in R.A, 11h. 13m. 49s., N.P.D. 23° 30’ 2 for 1880. New Nesuta in ErrtpAnus,—M. Block has detected at Odessa two nebulz in this constellation, which are not found in Sir John Herschel’s General Catalogue, the first in R.A, 3h. 28m. 9s., N.P.D. 116° 165, the secondin R.A. 3h. 33m. 48s. N.P.D. 116° 43'°7 for 1880. The former is pretty bright, and five minutes in diameter, the latter “considerably bright,” with strong central condensation, and readily observed even with the NATURE ‘a> 7 a NATURE 119 has often appeared to me to be worthy of consideration, and which from conversations with some of our Fellows appears to meet with sufficient support to justify my bringing it before this our anniversary. I refer to the hour at which our weekly meetings are held, Hitherto, in accordance with the usage of scientific societies in London, we have metinthe evening. But changes in the habits of society, and the increasing distances from Burlington House at which many of our Fellows reside, seem to render a large weekly attendance difficult. On this account it appears to me desirable to inquire whether an after- noon hour might not better suit the convenience of our members. In that case, I should suggest 5.0 P.M. ; and as our meetings seldom extend to two hours in duration, it would generally be practicable for Fellows to reach home by about seven o’clock. . . . ‘* These changes, if adopted, would require the alteration of the Statute relating to the hour of meeting. But if the sugges- tion were adopted before the end of the year, there would still remain nearly half the Session of our Society after complying with the necessary formalities. . . . “Tt has often been suggested,” we read, ‘‘that our weekly meetings might be rendered more interesting if the communica- tions Were more often accompanied by experiments, or by other modes of optical illustration. The Council has hitherto met these requirements by supplying, from time to time, such appli- ances as appeared necessary. But that important element, the electric light, and batteries on a large scale, have generally been avoided, on account of the inconveniences attending them. It has, however, been thought that authors would be much encouraged to illustrate their communications experimentally if the main appliances were known to be always ready to hand... . “ Again, the mode of lighting our meeting-room by means of sunlights has proved inconvenient to many of our Fellows, on account of its heat and glare; and it is considered undesirable to adopt ordinary gas-burners in its stead for fear of injury to the pictures, We are, however, no longer driven to this alter- native, as we may now look to the electric light as a possible mode of illumination, “« These considerations have led me to makean offer, as I now do, to the Society, of a gas-engine of eight horse-power, which, in the opinion of those best qualified to judge, will be amply sufficient both for experimental illustration and for illumination. And Ihave much pleasure in adding that, on hearing of this offer, our Fellow, Mr. Siemens, immediately expressed his wish to add a dynamo-machine, or rather a pair of such machines, of improved construction (one for alternate, ‘the other for direct curreuts), the principle of which he had already contemplated bringing before the Society. The other requisites, such as an optical lamp and a few instruments of frequent use, will doubt- less soon follow. But, in proposing thus to promote experi- mental illustration of papers read before the Society, I think it right to add that I do not contemplate, nor do I think it desir- able, that the Society should in any sense establish a laboratory ; all that is here intended is, that the main appliances for illus- tration should be found ready to hand here, while the special apparatus would be furnished by the authors themselves.” With regard to the government grant and fund, it is in the opinion of the President desirable that the minds, not only of the Council, but also of the Fellows generally should during the present year be turned to the question, whether it is advisable, in the interests of science, that the fund should be maintained : and if so, whether in its present or any altered form ? In May last the Secretary of State for India asked the advice of the Royal Society on the question of deputing to this country Major J. Herschel on the subject of pendulum observations, The subject is one in which the Royal Society has on more than one occasion taken an active interest; and a reply, prepared by Prof, Stokes was sent. Major Herschel :is on his way to England, to carry out the proposed work. } The Publications of the Society. — The Catalogue of Scientific Papers.—The second volume of the supplementary decade, viz., 1863-73, has been brought to a close, and copies are now in the hands of the Fellows and the public. It exceeds in bulk any of the earlier volumes of the work, and extends to I,310 pages. In this supplement, 343 additional scientific serials have been catalogued, making the total of such serials now com- prised in the whole no less than 1,938. The donation list for this volume has been the same as that for former volumes, with the addition of a few societies and institutions sanctioned by the Treasury at the recommendation of the Council. The Fellows have the right to purchase the supplement at the same reduced price per volume as the original work. The Council has autho- rised the preparation of titles for another decade ; and some progress has already been made in the work. An extra volume of the Philosophical Transactions (vol. 168) has been issued, in which the observations made by the natura- lists who accompanied the Transit of Venus Expeditions to Kerguelen’s Land and Rodriguez, and descriptions of their col- lections by persons specially acquainted with the several subjects are brought together. The volume is divided into four sections, viz., the Botany and {Zoology of each of the two islands res- pectively. In estimating the affinities of the flora and fauna of Rodri- guez, the authors were under great difficulties owing to our im- perfect knowledge of the plants and animals of the other Mascarene Islands. But almost all their observations point strongly to the conclusion that the present animals and plants are the remains of a once more extensive flora and fauna which has been gradually broken up by geological and climatic changes, and which more recently has been greatly interfered with by the agency of man, The papers presented to the Society, and read at the evening meetings, are stated to have been more numerous than in any previous year of its existence, and have during the last twelve months reached a total of 118. Some of them appear to have excited unusual interest among the Fellows and their friends ; for, on more than one occasion the meeting-room was filled to an almost unprecedented degree. The President took the opportunity of expressing his own impressions of a few which fall, more or Jess, within his own range of study, first of all referring to the assiduity and success with which Mr, Crookes has continued his labours. The work of the Institution of Telegraph Engineers, the Iron and Steel Institute and other similar associations was then referred to. The justification for the award of the medals for the present year was thus stated :— The Copley Metal has been awarded to Rudolph Julius Em- manuel Clausius, Foreign Member of the Royal Society, for his investigations in the Mechanical Theory of Heat. The mechanical theory of heat as at present understood and taught has been so essentially a matter of growth, that it would be difficult to assign to each investigator the precise part which he has taken in its establishment. It will, however, be admitted by all, that the researches of Clausius rank high among those which have mainly contributed to its development. These researches extend over a period of thirty years, and embrace im- portant applications of the theory not only to the steam-engine, but to the sciences of electricity and magnetism. Even to enumerate those who have contributed to one branch of the subject, viz., the kinetic theory of gases, would be beyond my present purpose and powers ; but as Clausius himself states, both Daniel and John Bernoulii’ wrote on the subject. And, even, to go back to earlier times, Lucretius * threw out the idea; while Gassendi, and our own Boyle, appear to have entertained it. Within our own recollection, Joule, Meyer, Kroning, Clerk Maxwell, and others have made invaluable con- tributions to this branch, as well as to the general subject of the mechanical theory of heat. But however great the value of these contributions, it may safely be stated that the name of Clausius will always be associated with the development of earlier ideas into a real scientific theory. A Royal Medal has been awarded to W. H. Perkin, F.R.S. Mr. William Perkin has been, during more than twenty years, one of the most industrious and successful investigators of Organic Chemistry. Mr. Perkin is the originator of one of the most important branches of chemical industry, that of the manufacture of dyes from coal-tar derivatives. Forty-three years ago the production of a violet-blue colour by the addition of chloride of lime to oil obtained from coal-tar was first noticed, and this having afterwards been ascertained to be due to the existence of the organic base known as aniline, the production of the coloration was for many years used as a very delicate test for that substance. The violet colour in ques- tion, which was soon afterwards also produced by other oxidising agents, appeared, however, to be quite fugitive, and the possibi- lity of fixing and obtaining in a state of purity the aniline pro- duct which gave ri-e to it, appears not to have occurred to 1 In the roth section of his “ Hydrodynamics,”’ 2 “De rerum Natura,”’ lib, 11. r11—1 40. - 120 NATURE [Dec. 4, 1879 chemists until Mr. Perkin successfully grappled with the subject in 1856, and produced the beautiful colouring matter known as aniline violet, or mauve, the production of which, on a large scale, by Mr. Perkin, laid the foundation of the coal-tar colour industry, His more recent researches on anthracene derivatives, especially on artificial alizarine, the colouring matter identical with that obtained from madder, rank among the most important work, and some of them haye greatly contributed to the successful manufacture of alizarine in this country, whereby we have been rendered independent of the importation of madder, Among the very numerous researches of purely scientific interest which Mr. Perkin has published, a series on the hydrides of salicyl and their derivatives, may be specially referred to ; but among the most prominent of his admirable investigations are those resulting in the synthesis of coumarin, the odoriferous principle of the tonquin bean and the sweet scented woodruff, and of its homologues. ; The artificial production of glycocol and of tartaric acid by Mr. Perkin conjointly with Mr. Duppa, afford other admirable examples of synthetical research, which excited very great interest among chemists at the time of their publication, It is seldom that an investigator of organic chemistry has extended his researches over so wide a range as is the case with Mr, Perkin, and his work has always commanded the admiration of chemists for its accuracy and completeness, and for the origin- ality of its conception. A Royal Medal has been awarded to A. C. Ramsay, F.R.S. Prof. Ramsay has been for a period of nearly forty years connected with the Geological Survey of Great Britain, and during by far the greater part of that time either as Director or Director-General of the Survey. During this long period, in addition to his official labours in advancing our knowledge of the geology of this country, he has published works on the ‘Geology of Arran,” ‘‘ The Geology of North Wales,” ‘‘ The Old Glaciers of North Wales and Switzerland,” and ‘‘ The Physical Geology and Geography of Great Britain,” now in its fifth edition, His papers in the Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society, and elsewhere, are numerous and important, especially those on theoretical questions in physical geology, such for instance, as “The Glacial Origin of Lake Basins,” ‘‘ The Freshwater Formation of the Older Red Rocks,” and ‘‘ The History of the; Valley of the Rhine, and otker Valleys of Erosion.” There are, indeed, among living geologists few who can claim to have done more to extend our knowledge in the important fields of geology and physical geography. The Davy Medal has been awarded to P. E, Lecoq de Boisbau- dran. The discovery of the metal gellium is remarkable for having filled a gap which had been previously pointed out in the series of known elements. Mendelejeff had already shown that a metal might probably exist, intermediate in its properties between aluminium aud indium, before Boisbaudran’s laborious spectroscopic and chemical investigation of numerous varieties of blende led him to the discovery and isolation of sucha metal, The separation of the minute traces of gallium compounds from blende is an operation presenting unusual difficulty, owing to the circumstance that compounds of gallium are carried down by various precipitates from solutions which are incapable by themselves of depositing those compounds. EXPERIMENTAL DETERMINATION OF THE VELOCITY. OF LIGHT Il. Fic. 7 represents a plan of the lower floor of the building. §& is a three horse power Lovegrove engine and boiler, resting ona stone foundation ; B, asmall Roots’ blower ; G, an automatic regulator. From this the air goes to a delivery pipe up through the floor to the turbine. The engine made about four turns per second, and the blower about fifteen. At this speed the pressure of the air was about half a pound per square inch, The regulator, Fig. 8, consists of a strong bellows, supporting a weight of 370 pounds, partly counterpoised by 80 pounds, in order to keep the bellows from sagging. When the pressure of the air from the blower exceeds the weight, the bellows com- mences to rise, and in so doing closes the valve, v. This arrangement was found in practice to be insufficient, and the following addition was made: a yalve was placed * By Albert A. Michelson, Master, U.S. Navy, Read before the American Association. Continued from p. 56, at p, and the pipe was tapped a little farther on, and a rub- ber tube led to a water gauge, Fig. 9. The column of water in the smaller tube is depressed, and when it reaches the horizontal part of the tube, the slightest variatiombof pressure sends the column from one end to the other, This is checked by an assistant at the valve, so that the column of water is kept at nearly the same point, and the pressure thus rendered very nearly _ constant. The result was satisfactory, though not in the degree anticipated, It was possible to keep the mirror at a constant speed for three or four seconds at a time, and this was sufficient for an observation. Still it would have been more convenient to have kept it so for a longer time. The test of uniformity was, however, very sensitive, as a change of speed of 0'02 of a reyo- lution per second could be detected. Fie. 7. It was found that the only time during the day when the atmosphere was sufficiently quiet to get a distinct image was during the hour after sunrise or during the hour before sunset. At other times the image was ‘‘ boiling,” so as not to be recog- nisable, In one experiment the electric light was used at night, but the image was no more distinct than at sunset, and the light was unsteady. The method followed in experiment was as follows :—The fire was started half an hour before, and by the time everything was ready the gauge would show 40 or 50lbs. of steam. The mirror was adjusted by signals as before described. The heliostat was placed and adjusted. The revolving mirror was adjusted by being moved about till the light returned to it from the distant mirror, The axis of the revolving mirror was also inclined to Fic. 8. Fic. 9. the right or the left, so that the direct reflection of light from the slit fell above or below the eyepiece, as otherwise this light would overpower that from the reflection from the distant mirror, &c., which forms the image to be observed. This inclination of the axis of rotation introduces a small error, which is duly allowed for in the calculations. The distance between the front face of the mirror and the cross. hair of the eyepiece was then measured, by stretching from one to the other a steel tape, making the drop of the catenary about an inch—when the error on account of the curve, and that due to the stretching of the tape, just counterbalanced each other. The position of the slit, if not determined before, was then NAT JRE : 121 _ found as before described. The electric fork was then started» _ the temperature noted, and the beats between it and the standard fork counted for 60 seconds. This was repeated two or three times before every set of observations, The eyepiece of the micrometer was then set approximately, and the revolving mirror started. If the image did not appear, the mirror was inclined forward or backward till it came in ight. eThe cord connected with the valve was pulled right or left, till the images of the revolving mirror, represented by the two round spots to the left of the cross hair, came to rest. Then the screw was turned till the cross hair bisected the deflected image of the slit. This was repeated till ten observations were taken, when the mirror was stopped, temperature noted, and beats counted. This was called a set of observations. Usually five such sets were taken morning and evening. The steel tape used was one of Chesterman’s, 100 feet long. It was carefully compared with the copy of the standard yard made by Wurdemann, by a comparator. The result showed that the error of the tape was 0°006 foot. The true length was 100'006 feet. The micrometer was also compared iwith the standard yard and the standard meter, the first giving for the value of one scale division, 0799650 mm, and the second, 0°99642 ,, Mean ... ... 0°99646 mm, One turn of the screw was found equal to 1'0009 ‘divisions. Hence the value of one turn was 0°99655 millimeter. The distance between the pier for the revolving mirror and the stationary mirror was measured by means of the steel tape. Square lead weights were placed along the line, and measure- ments taken from one to the other, the tape resting on the 3 ground and stretched by a force of 10 pounds. The measure- ments, five in all, were..all made at about 62°F. The results ; are :— 198513 1985°17 i> 1984°93 1985"09 : ‘ 198509 | Mean ... 1985"082 ~ Correction for stretch of tape 0°33 ‘a a plerigth?” 5; Ree ites o'12 Distance from pier to revolving mirror 0°70 Total correction Ils 1985"08 True distance ... 1986°23 The rate of vibration of the standard fork armed with a tip of copper foil was found by allowing it to trace its record on the lampblacked cylinder of a Schultz’s chronoscope. The time was given either by a sidereal break-circuit chronometer or by a mean time clock. In the former case the break circuit worked a relay which interrupted the current from three Groye cells. In the . latter, the circuit was broken by the pendulum, The spark from the secondary coil of a Ruhmkorff was delivered from a wire near the tip of the fork, The rate of the chronometer, the record of which was kept at the Observatory, was very regular. It was . found, from observations of transits of stars during the week, to be + 1°3 seconds per day, which is the same as the recorded rate. The correction for temperature was found by Prof. Mayer to be + o’o12 y.s. for a diminution of 1° F, My own result was + 0°0125 v.s. Adopted + o’o12, = The following is the table of results :— , 256°069 256°089 : 256'077 256012 256°087 256°074 256°061 256°100 '256°084 256°066 Mean ... ... 256°072 In one of these observations I counted the beats between this fork and another, first while the former was tracing its record, and then when it was free and in position as for use, The dif- ference, if any, was less than O’OI v.s. As the result obtained depends directly on the rate of vibration of the fork, I was not willing to trust entirely to my own work, and asked Prof, Mayer to make a determination. He kindly offered to make it together with myself. Accord- ingly, I went to the Hoboken Institute, and a series of ten deter - minations were made under the following conditions :— The fork was wedged into a wooden support, and the tip allowed to rest on lampblacked paper wound about a metal cylinder, which was turned by hand. Break-circuit clock was used, the rate of which was ascertained by comparison with the Western Union time-ball. The spark from the Ruhmkorff passed from the tip of metal attached to the fork, piercing the paper. Size of the spark was regulated by resistances. Table of results was as follows :— 256°072 256°126 256°091 256°108 256°068 256°090 256°112 2567124, 256°080 256'070 Mean 256°094 The effect of scrape was sought for again, and found to be 0°003 v.s. The effect of the support, however, was greater, both combined being — 0'026 v.s. Making this correction, the result becothes -— 256°068 Former result 256°072 Mean 256°070 vibrations per second, at 65° F. The formulze employed in the calculations are :— (3) eee te a r (2) eee 2592500" Dx am ; Where ¢ = angle of deflection. d, = displacement, or 7. tan p. ry = radius of measurement. D = twice the distance between mirrors. # = number of revolutions per second. a = inclination of plane of rotation. V = velocity. D and ¢ are expressed in feet, and @, in millimetres. Substituting for @, its value, d@ x 099655 x seca, where ¢, is the displacement in turns of screw, a and log sec a = 0°00008, we have, reducing to kilometres :— . (3)) sex cen otal Ge af log cy = 0°51457 (4) ss + SEV Se A log ¢ = 0'49670 In the calculations the effect of temperature on the screw, scale, and tape used in finding p was neglected. It can be applied to the final result for the mean temperature, which was 6° F. ‘ PoC omection for tan p is — 0°000003 x 13° = —0'0004. Correction for V is + 12 kilometres. The direction of rotation was right-handed. To eliminate any possible error on this account, the mirror in eight of the later observations was inverted, thus making the rotation left-handed, and the deflection measured to the left. The results were the same as before, within the limits oferror. Zz To eliminate errors due to a regular variation in speed during every revolution, if any such could exist, the position of the frame was changed in several experiments, The results were the same as before. 122 NATURE » [Dec. 4, 1879 To test the question as to whether the vortex of air about the mirror had any effect on the deflection, the speed was lowered to 192, 128, 96, and 64 turns per second, If the vortex had any effect, it should have decreased with the lower speed, but no such effect could be detected. Finally, to test if there were any bias in making the observa- tions, the readings in several sets were taken by another, and the results written down without divulging them. The separate readings, as will be shown in the following specimen, were as consistent as when made by myself, and the final results agree with those of other observations :— Specimen of Observations June 17, Sunset. Image good (best in column 4). (x) (2) €)) (4) Gs) Ti2°81 12:80 112/83 Ii2"74 Sieve Wi2"Sr | 112°8t = 112°S1. «12°76. ares 1279 «6 x12"78—s112"78s« A12°74. aaa 12°80 = 112°75. «12°74 s«A2"76—S «11244 1279 «112077. -T12*74 12°76 eae 1%2°82- 112°79, ~“TI2°72 112°78\ eee wi2°76 6 142°73 “11276 112‘78 ay 112°83. «412778 «= 112°8r =: 112"79) ae 12°78 «= 112°79s«s112°74Ss«112°83. «11282 ri2‘B2 0° 112"73 °° 112"76S 11278) Soe ae Means = 112°801 112°773 192°769 112°772 112°779 Zero = 0°260 0°260 0°260 0°260 0'260 d = PI2iS41 2515 12"h0o 12512 “TEeIeIO Temp. = 77°, B = + 1°500, cor. = — 0144, diff. = + 1°356, added to 256°070 = 257°426 = x 28'155 =7r Results from the above. 299,660 299,740 299,749 299,740 299,720 Data for Working out Observations Ut, fork makes 256°070 vibr, per sec. at 65° F. D = 3,972°46 feet. tan a = tangent of inclination of plane of rotation = o’o2., 4 = log = 0°51457. ¢ = log = 0'49670, d@d = deflection as read from micrometer, y = radius. @ = angle of deflection. ” = number of revolutions per second, V_ = velocity of light in kilometres. B = number of beats per second between electric Ut, fork and standard Ut, fork. Electric fork makes 4, (256'07 + B+ cor.) vibr, per second, and 7 is a multiple submultiple or simple ratio of this. Cor, = correction for temperature of standard, = — O°012 y.s. per degree F. Mean result } ... 299,728 Cor. for temp. +12 Vel. of light in air ... 299,740 Cor. for vacuum +88 Vel. of light 2 vacuo = 299,828 kilometres per second. SCIENTIFIC SERIALS American Fournal of Science and Arts, November.—Mr. Stockwell, who has been systematically examining the physical theory of the moon’s motion, here calls attention to a secular inequality in that motion, produced by the oblateness of the earth. For attracted points out of the plane of the equator, and not beyond the parallels of 35° 16’ (which is the moon’s case), the attraction of the earth is less than it would be if the latter were spherical. The author says he has found several ine- qualities in the moon’s motion, not recognised by existing theories, and of even greater practical importance than the fore- going.—The diamagnetic constaats of bismuth and cale-spar in absolute measure have been determined by Prof. Rowland and Mr. Jacques. In their paper the former develops mathematical expressions for the various coefficients of magnetisation, while the latter describes the experimental method adopted: first, exploration of the field, and then noting the time of swing of * In the original a table of observations appears which we are obliged to mit for want of space, while we give the result of the same. little suspended bars of the substances in it. The constants for bismuth are . ie = — "000000012554 ) . 7 Ay = — "000900014324 | ” for cale-spar, &, = — "000000037930 Ry = — *000000040330 § * —Mr. Gibbs’s elaborate paper on vapour-densities is here con- cluded. The relation between temperature, pressure, and yolume for the vapours of peroxide of nitrogen, formic acid, acetic acid, and perchloride of phosphorus, differs widely from that expressed by the usual laws, and the hypothesis of a compound nature of the vapour is probable, Mr, Gibbs had proposed equations to express the relations between temperature, pressure, or volume, and quantities of the components in such a “gas mixture of con- vertible components.” In his paper he reviews all known experi- mental determinations of the vapour densities, and finds fair agreement with formula.— We note also accounts of Mr, Michelson’s recent experimental determination of the velocity of light ; of the remarkable Kane Geyser well (arising from a con- flict between gas and water in a petroleum region), and of Mr. Edison’s resonant tuning-fork.—Besides Prof. Marsh’s recent address, there are further notes by him of new Jurassic mammals from the Rocky Mountains, showing a resemblance to known types of the Purbeck in England, The American Naturalist, vol. xiii, No. 11, November, con- tains :—B. B. Redding, How our ancestors in the Stone Age made their implements ; Isaac C. Martindale, Colorado plants; C. G, Siewers, Mould as an insect destroyer; W. N. Lockington, Notes on Pacific Coast fishes and fisheries ; William Trelease, On the fertilisation of our native species of Clitoria and Centrosema ; Recent Literature ; General Notes ; Scientific News; Proceed- ings of Scientific Societies. Annalen der Physik und Chemie, No. 10,—A useful paper by Herr Fromme, in this number, treats of the electromotive force of the Grove, Bunsen, and Daniell batteries, as related to concen- tration of the liquids. The force of a Grove, whenever this cell is traversed by a very weak current, decreases continuously with con- centration of nitric acid and approximately in proportion, That of the Bunsen, under like conditions, is, for the higher concentra- tions, about equal to that of the Grove, but from a concentration C = 55 greater, because it remains constant, while the decrease in the Grove goes on, The force of the Grove increases with increased concentration of the sulphuric acid to a maximum between C = 25, and C = 35, and thereafter decreases at a more rapid rate,—Herr Kundt and Herr Réntgen have succeeded in proving electromagnetic rotation of the plane of polarisation in several of the less easily condensed gases; and quantitative results for air, hydrogen, oxygen, carbonic oxide, and marsh gas, are here given. The rotation is in direction of the positive current (as with water and sulphide of carbon), and its amount is approximately proportional to the density. It is estimated that 253 km. air in the north-south direction would give a rotation of 1°, The author’s apparatus (including a means of compression to about 250 atm.) is described.—Prof. Lommel contributes two papers; in one of them, on Newton’s dust rings, he seeks to show the adequacy of the diffraction-theory to explain the pheno- mena, as against the diffusion theory (interference of diffusely reflected light) ; in the other paper, on Stokes’s law, he contro- verts M. Lamansky’s experimental support of the general validity of this law, which he (Prof. Lommel) had before impugned, as inapplicable to a certain ‘‘ critical region” in which the fluor- escence and absorption-spectra overlap.—Herr Wiillner describes a five-band spectrum of oxygen obtained both from the positive and the negative light in spectral tubes, to which was admitted oxygen produced by electrolysis. When the charge of gas was allowed to stand a quarter to half an hour, the spectrum was. changed into that of carbon,—Herr Narr endeavours further to show that the loss of electricity by an insulated body in a gas. cannot alone be explained by rise of temperature of the gas, or conduction through the insulating supports, or the presence of particles of foreign substances, as dust, water, or mercury vapour, Nor is there, apparently, a special conductivity of the gas in the ordinary sense.—The changes of density produced in steel by hardening and annealing, are indicated by Herr Fromme.. —Herr Riecke has a mathematical paper on the doctrine of the poles of a bar-magnet; and Herr Gerland shows historical reason for believing that the caloric engine was conceived by Leibnitz in 1706, and that Papin is alone the inventor of the centrifugal pump. SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES i London _ Royal Society, November 27.—‘‘ A Memoir on the Single and Double Theta-Functions,” by A. Cayley, F.R.S., Sadlerian Professor of Pure Mathematics in the University of Cambridge. ‘Chemical Society, November 20.—Dr, Gilbert in the chair. —The Chairman announced that a ballot for the election of Fellows would take place at the next meeting, December 4.— The following papers were read :—A chemical study of vegetable _ albinism, Part II. Respiration and transpiration of albino foliage, _ by Mr. Church, White foliage does not possess the power even in ‘sunshine of decomposing the carbonic acid in the air. Experiments _ were made with leaves of the maple, holly, ivy, and Alocasia ; 1,000 sq. ctm. of the leaves of the Alocasia evolved in two hours, 15°06 and 38°96 parts of carbonic acid per 10,000 ; 1,000 sq. ctm. _ of green leaves 1°14 parts. White holly sprays placed in water, gained in two hours five times 4s much in weight as green leaves, but when no water was supplied, the green lost about twenty _ times as much as the white.—Contributions to the history of _ putrefaction, Part I., by Mr. C. T. Kingzett. The author has examined dilute solutions of albumen, beef, and fish as to their oxygen-absorbing power in different stages of putrefaction, by titrating with permanganate. He finds that such substances require less oxygen as the putrefactive process proceeds; he also discusses the bearing of his results on the permanganate method of esti- mating the organic matter in potable waters.—Notes on man- ganese dioxide, by C. R. A. Wright and A, E. Menke. The _ authors have made an exhaustive study of the various methods for preparing manganese dioxide; in most cases the product _ contains potash and is deficient in oxygen ; the methods which yielded the purest manganese dioxide were, heating manganese nitrate to 160° C., mixing a hot solution of a manganese salt with an excess of permanganate, or in the cold with the addition of zinc sulphate or ferric chloride. The volumetric processes of Kessler and Pattinson gave good results; the authors suggest some convenient modifications of these methods; they have verified the statements of Gorgeu, Guyard, and Pickering, but have disproved those of Morawski and Sting].—On the reaction between sodium thiosulphate and iodine ; estimation of man- ganese oxides and potassium dichromate, by S. Pickering. The author has carefully worked out the influence of dilution, excess of potassium iodide, heat, and other conditions, on the results obtained by Bunsen’s volumetric method of estimating manganese oxide. He suggests a simplified method of procedure and com- _ pares results obtained by the two processes, . Linnean Society, November 28.—Prof. Allman, president, _ in the chair.—Messrs. Winslow, Jones, and Wm. Wickham were elected Fellows.—Sir J. D. Hooker exhibited a specimen and read _ apaper on the discovery of a variety of the cedar of Lebanon on the mountains of Cyprus (see Scrence Notes)—The president also laid on the table examples of a cone-bearing Cedrus deodora, grown by Mrs. C. St. Clair at Parkstone, Dorset.—Mr. E. M. Holmes exhibited and made remarks on a series of rare British lichens, Hepaticee, and freshwater alge, He noted that the so-called Achinella articulata which now chokes the filter beds of the reservoir at Bradgate, Leicester, was in reality an undescribed form, but bearing resemblances to Zoogleea.' Mr. Holmes likewise exhibited, and for the first time in England, the leaves, flowers and portion of the trunk of _ the tree (Audira araroba) yielding the so-called Goa powder, This vegetable secretion appears to destroy and replace the woody tissue of the heart-wood. The source of the powder was long enveloped in mystery, but from its containing chrysophanic acid it was believed to be the product of afungus. Recently it has been found that the cane grows in Bahia, is sent to Lisbon, thence exported to the Portuguese colonies in the East where it is used _ as a specific for ringworm.—Mr. T. Christy showed two aboriginal _ Australian skulls with occipital thickening (forwarded by Dr. Bancroft), and supposed to have been induced by the blows of knobkerries.—Mr. Marshall Ward read a contribution to ourknow- _ ledge of the embryo sac of phanerograms. In this paper, stages _ in the development of the ovule in Butomus umbellatus, Alisma _ plantago, Anemone japonica and other forms have been carefully _ observed and delineated from microscopic section, The views of _ Strasburger, Vesque and Warming are severally compared and _ reviewed, the author holding intermediate opinions. Mr, Ward _ advances the following :—The ovule so far as its nucleus is con- cerned arises as a group of cells which divide and become "arranged in groups of sister cells symmetrically related to the shape of the whole organ. One cell group leads in growth and 123 fulfilling a special purpose, becomes the embryo sac. Further feeble divi-ion of this latter produces a watery cell with two nuclei. Each nucleus again produces four nuclei by bipartite division followed by grouping, and a nucleus from the top group moves towards the middle sap cavity. [Each group of four cells is a prothallus, and the cell producing this a macrospore. The twa most successful macrospores behave similarly to those of some: vascular cryptograms, and finally yerminate, producing a ruddy prothallus of four naked nuclei, The egg-cell is an odsphere, all that is left of the lower part of the rudimentary archegonium, its upper part probably being represented by the two “ synergidae” which are to be looked upon as having acquired a secondary function from being merely yrotective and guiding neck-cells of an archegonium.—Mr, Alfred Haddon read a paper on the extinct land tortoises of Mauritius and Rodriguez. Examination of alarge store of material obtained by Mr. Edward Newton, corroborates the two Mauritian species Zestudo triserrata and LY. inepta described by Dr. Giinther; but it adds no fresh example to that apparently unsatisfactory species 7. /eptocnemis. Of remains from the Island of Rodriguez the species T.Vosmeri can alone be distinguished. The free coracoid of TZ. inepta is now for the first time recorded, while that of T. Vosmeri is wonderfully irregular in character. Great variation in the ankylosis of the coracoid with the shoulder girdle pertains in this extensive series in the Cambridge Museum.—The secretary read in abstract a communication by Mr. Edward J. Miers, viz. : On a small collection of crustacea made by Mr. Edward Whymper, chiefly in the N. Greenland Seas, with an appendix on additional species collected by the late British Arctic Expedition. Entomological Society, November 5.—H. W. Bates, E.L.S., F.Z.S., vice-president, in the chair.—Mr. T. R. Billups, of Peckham, was elected an Ordinary Member of the Society, — Mr. W. C. Boyd exhibited a remarkable variety of Asfilates citraria, 2 specimen of Cidaria testata in which thé hind wings were apparentlyjabsent, and a Noctua resembling Hadena dentina, but differing from that species in the form of the body. Mr. McLachlan read some remarks he had received from Prof. Forel relative to the sculptured stones on the shores of Lake Leman. Three principal types of markings were described, the first of which was ascribed to the agency of Z%nodes.—Prof. Westwood exhibited a series of drawings illustrating the economy and trans- formations of several species of trichopterous and other neu- ropterous insects, also drawings of some undescribed species of exotic heteropterous-hemiptera contained in the Hopeian collec- tion; he likewise drew attention to a modification of the professorship which had been proposed by the Oxford Com- missioners, whereby the science of entomology would probably be neglected, and which would to a certain extent render nugatory the intentions of the founder of the professorship and donor of the collections. Prof. Westwood also referred to the affinity of the genus Polyctenes—Mr, J. Jenner Weir exhibited some ants, apparently a species of A?ta, which he had found in large quantities at Pisa, and which were peculiar in haying collected around their nests, large quantities of small empty shells of Flelix capuata and Hi. virgata; Mr. Weir also exhibited a specimen of an Orgyza, stated on the authority of Mr, Gates to have emerged from the larval skin, without passing through the pupal state.—Mr. W. L. Distant communicated a note relative to some Indian hemiptera which he had received from India through Mr. F, Moore for examination, with the names of the plants on which they were found.—The Secretary read a note and exhibited a photograph which he had received from Dr. Fritz Miiller.— The following papers were also communicated :—‘“ List of the Hemiptera collected on the Amazons by Prof, Trail,” Pt. 1, by Dr, F, Buchanan White.—‘‘ Descriptions of new Genera and Species of Tenebrionidze from Madagascar,” by Mr. F. Bates ;— and ‘Descriptions of new Coleoptera from East Africa and Madagascar,” by Mr. C. O. Waterhouse.—Mr, Butler ‘com- municated a paper on the natural affinities of the lepidoptera hitherto referred to the genus Acronycta of authors.—From an examination, chiefly of the larval characters, the author proposed to distribute the British species of the genus among the Arctiidz, Liparidz, Notodontidz, and Noctuites. Meteorological Society, November 19.—Mr, C. Greaves, F.G.S., president, in the chair.—The following gentlemen were elected Fellows :—Capt. C. K. Brooke, Rev. E, Carr, M.A., Capt. R. A. Edwin, R.N., W. B. Fawcett, C. J. Harland, J. Lucas, F.G.S., H. Mellish, G. B. Nichols, the Earl of Northesk, Dr. J. Robb, T. H. Walker, and.C. L, Wragge, F.R.G,.S,—The 124 NATURE Pan, ’ Sa . 28S ae [Dec. 4, 1879. reports on the phenological observations for 1879 were read, the Botanical being by the Rev. T. A. Preston, M.A., F.M.S., the Entomological by the Rev. C, H. Griffith, B.D., F.M.S., and the Ornithological by J. Cordeaux, With the exception of a few days in the earlier parts of February and of March, the whole of the year 1879 has been characterised by a temperature almost invariably below the mean, accompanied with much wet and little or no sun; the effect on vegetation has been conse- quently very great. Foliage has, as a rule, been excessively luxuriant and dark, ‘‘ forming the most remarkable feature of the year; ” but rarely has fruit been able to ripen, and the second shoots have frequently been weak and unhealthy. Flowering has invariably been very late, as 1 uch as a month in some districts, the hay harvest often not completed till nearly the end of August, some still in ‘‘cock” in the Moorland district of Staffordshire, as late as September 30 ; and the corn harvest not only extremely late, but the corn in yery poor condition, not properly ripenrd. With regard to insects the two most notable occurrences of this most dismal season have been the swarms of Pyrameis cardui and Plusia gamma ; both these species have been wonderfully numerous, especially the latter, which has absolutely swarmed. The great severity of the past winter caused an almost unprecedented mortality amongst birds, great numbers of various species succumbing to the cold. This mor- tality was perhaps most apparent amongst the Turdide: and the starlings. Spring brought little or no improvement, birds nested much beyoiid their average time, and in a vast number of instances the first eggs have been addled and destroyed by cold rains and an abnormally low and continuous temperature. The scarcity of young partridges is probably unprecedented, on some manors not a young bird is to be found, and it will take several good nesting seasons to bring up the stock of their old numbers. —-A paper on the meteorology of Zanzibar, by Dr. John Robb, wasalso read, The average annual rainfall is rather more than 61 inches, or only about double the average yearly fall in England ; and the average number of rainy days is 120. The greater rains fall in March, April, and May, the lesser rains are from mid-October tothe end of the year. The driest month is September, with an average rainfall of 1°86 inch; no month is rainless. The mean temperature of five years is 80°°6, and the average yearly range, from highest maximum to lowest minimum, is 17°°3. The hottest months of the year are February and March, with a mean temperature of $3°'1 and 83°'4 respectively ; the cool months are July and August, averaging 77°°5 and 77°°7. This gives a small amplitude of the yearly fluctuation, rather less than 6°, and to this limited range of temperature is largely due the debilitating nature of the climate of Zanzibar, particularly as affecting the nervous system, The heat is constantand moist, and even gentle exercise is usually attended with excessive perspiration, PARIS Academy of Sciences, November 24.—M. Daubrée in the chair.—The following papers were read :—On the heat of forma- tion of ammonia, by M. Berthelot. He was led to doubt pre- vious data. The action of chlorine on ammonia cannot rightly be used (as it has been) for the purpose, nor that of hypobromites, though preferable. M. Berthelot resorted to direct combustion of ammoniac gas by means of free oxygen. He arrives at + 210 and + 12°2 cal. for the heat of formation of dissolved and gaseous ammonia respectively. Between + 12°2 and + 26°7 (the number previously adopted) there is + 14°5 difference (the largest experimental error hitherto made in thermochemistry). — On crystallised chlorophyll, by M. Trécul. A claim of priority ; he described crystals of chlorophyll in 1865.—Geodetie junction of Algeria with Spain ; international operation executed under the direction of Gen, Ibaiiez and M. Perrier, by M. Perrier. Science has now a meridian are of 27°, the largest that has been measured on the earth and projected astronomically on the sky. M. Perrier gives interesting details of the work, which included transport of steam-engines and Gramme machines, &c., to four mountain tops, Mulahacen and Tetica in Spain, Filhaoussen and M’Sabiha between Oran and the frontier of Morocco. Mili- tary guards were required, and the parties watched for signals from August 20 fill September 9, without success, The obser- vations, commenced on the latter date, terminated October 19, —Experimental researches on a new property of the nervous system, by M. Brown-Sequard. Certain parts of the nervous system, when under irritation, cause suddenly, or nearly so, a notable increase of the motor or sensitive properties of other parts of the system. Thus transverse section of a lateral half of the base of the brain increases the motor properties of the parts of this centre before the section, while the opposite is produced on the opposite side; the same with section of the sciatic nerve, or a lateral half of the dorsal or lumbar cord.—Re- searches on nitrification, by MM. Schleesing and Muntz, They appear to have isolated the organism which effects the oxidation of nitrogen, the nitric ferment, The corpuscles are abundant, very small, and slightly elongated. The ferment is killed in- fallbly by a temperature of 100°, and go” seems to stop its action, Deprivation of oxygen and desiccation are unfavourable to it. In media rich in organic matters, mucor is its chief enemy, It is not found normally in air; mould is its most favourable medium,—Observations on the egg-laying of winged phylloxeras in Languedoc, by M. Mayet.— On quadratic forms, by M. Poincaré,—Determination of curves and surfaces satisfy- ing the conditions of double contact, by M. Zeuthen.—Specific heat of solutions of hydrochloric acid, by M. Hammerl. He tabulates his results, and modifies M. Marignac’s formula so as to make it applicable to concentrated solutions.—On a new mode of separation of nickel, and of cobalt, by M. Dirvell, This consists in mixing with a solution containing cobalt and nickel, a (cold) saturated solution of salt of phosphorus, mixed with a solu- tion of bicarbonate of ammonia, no longer giving any ammoniacal odour.—Constitution of dibromised ethylene, by M. Demole.— New method of analysing with precision the potashes of commerce, by MM. Corenwinder and Contamine. This method (very rapid and exact) relieves the operator of the necessity of first separating the sulphuric acid, phosphoric acid, and silica, which form with soda insoluble combinations in aleohol,—On the alterations of the epidermis, in affections of the skin, or of mucous membranes, which tend to the formation of vesicles, pustules, or pseudo- membranous productions, by M. Leloir.—Observations on the salivary glands of the Echidna, by M. Viallanes. The parotid glands, so constant in mammalia, have in this case escaped the attention of Cuvier and Owen, and the latter denies their existence in Echidna ; but the author found them well developed. Instead of being in front of the auditory canal they are far behind it, at the level of the middle of the neck. On either side there are two sub-maxillary glands, one deep, the other super- ficial, and the latter seems also to have escaped attention.—M. Chasles presented, from Prince Boncompagni, a portion of ‘* Researches on the Manuscripts of Pierre le Fermat followed by unpublished Fragments of Bachet, and of Malebranche.”— M. Larrey presented a Portuguese work by M, Ennes, “ The Medical Life of Nations.” CONTENTS Pace Ya ve COLLEGE AND AMERICAN PALZONTOLOGY. « + «© + « « » IOE CHRONOLOGICAL History oF PLants. By Prof.A.H.SaycEe « « 104 Cwatuts’s ‘‘ PRacTICAL ASTRONOMY” « 2 2 0 « « © © «@ © » 105 Our Book SHELF :— Morton’s ‘‘ Carboniferous Limestone and Cefn-y-Fedw Sandstone of the Country between Llanymynech and Minera, North Wales.”—J. W. Joys. %= ae se, atin © [0 © fease pissin nn OOP HECSIN ele de sua oe 8 te 8 8 mo et me ane Letters To THE EpiTor:— To Astronomers.—Lord LinpsAY « « 5 + «© + + + _« «© « » 106 The Cresswell Cave Exploration, 1876.—Prof. W. Bovp Dawkins, “The Society for the Encouragement of Literature and Science.” —W. S. Dattas; Prof. Sr. Gzorce Mivart, F.RS, . « « 107 Does Sargassum Vegetate in the Open Sea?—Dr. J.J. Wap . . 107 The Paces of the Horse.—V. B. Barrincton-Kenner (With Diagram) oe eg oe ay ee fe) 6 ee ee Force and Momentum.—E.G.. « « « + «© s+ + 6 © «© «© « 108 Change in Apparent Position of Geometrical Figures.—Wm. Ackroyp (With Diagrams). . «+» « +» » « © w= » « » 08 Mutual Attraction of Spectral Lines.—C. S. Perrce . . . - 108 EXPLORATION OF Timor. By Dr. A. B. MEYER. . + « + « . 108 Lanp SHELLS OF THE AUSTRAL ISLANDS ~« «+ + «© + + © © - 108 DisTINGUISHING LIGHTS FoR LIGHTHOUSES «+ + «© «© = # + 109 Tue TurKomans. By A.H. KEANE. « « + + 2 «© « « - ne Discovery OF A GASEOUS NeButa, By Rev. T. W. Wens. - ve pete A New PLANETARIUM . Ty a eee kee oh) aE A Microscopic SExENADE. B, JacopF, HenrRicl. «+ + + . 112 Joun ALLAN Broun. By Prof. Batrour Stewart, F.R.S. . + + 112 Nores . ssh tn fe. ee ee pg © ee) ee Our AsTRoNomIcAL CoLumMN:— : A Seventh Star of the Orion-Trapezium. . . + » © * * * » 217 Lunar Eclipses ovis ots, Colbie ayn bees eee © a Parallax of a Small Star . oe me anys ae ak PS ue, Oth ae New Nebulzin Eridanus. . . . © + + © + © © © ¢ «© © AZ Puysicat NOTES « 66 ele elas el wile ee ele w 6 jm i mee GroGraPHicaL NoTES . «© ee ee 8 ee 8 8 8 toe ee TB THE ROVAL SOCIETY.s +e: usl ay Bing oo sett te. 6 kaa ne EXPERIMENTAL DETERMINATION OF THE VELOCITY OF Lieut, IT. By ALpert A. Micuetson, Master, U.S. Navy (With Itlustra- Hons)! 3) ee ROO Terie: oye joy eae Bote Scienribic SERIALS «eof ata fe 0 * 8 ate ee ne 188 c+ Meee GERMS «ihe eu Rue SocrETUeS AND ACADEMIES .« + «+ + NATURE 125 * THURSDAY, DECEMBER 11, 1879 CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY HE draft of the proposed Statutes just issued by the Commissioners, will, if we mistake not, mark an era in the history of one, at all events, of our Universities. It indicates a large and wise view on the part of the Com- missioners, and though it will scarcely place Cambridge on a level, so far as teaching power goes, with a second- rate German University, it will go far to remedy the present state of things, and on it a superstructure may in time be laid in true harmony with the wants of the time. What the Commissioners have really had to do is to convert an assemblage of ‘‘ Hauts Lycées” into a living University, and, of course, this had to be done, if it were done at all, at the expense of the Colleges. This has long been foreseen, and the way in which it has been approached leaves nothing to be desired, so far as the manner goes ; if a minimum only had not been fixed many might have said that the proposal hardly went far enough, The Commissioners evidently have faith. It will be best to give in the first instance an analysis in the words of the Statutes as far as possible. In order to obtain contributions from Colleges for uni- versity purposes, it is ruled that the Colleges shall pay to the University in every year, out of their revenues, a sum determined according to the following quota, viz. :— For every 1,000/. levied,— Peterhouse ... Be re 7m ae 23 Clare .. oat ese 5% tes See 47 Pembroke... : ae Pe Fe 47 Gonville and Caius ned so por 62 Trinity Hall.. aT oO = ee 33 Corpus Christi cic eee wwe oa 43 King’s vas mv aa eee sve Cae Queens’ : a re ae or 19 St. Catharine’s si ace + mee 19 Jesus ae cna “a ner WRN 57 Christ's ose sis cr “as oe 57 St. John’s... ae ad oe ce$kOQ Magdalene ... of on oe ie 7 Trinity «ii sie ra ie ass > 229) Emmanuel ... at op re “ 33 Sidney Sussex +0 ob so 25 Downing... ae 4 This quota, which must have cast “comebedl a vast amount of trouble, enables any one to judge of the effect of the scheme on any College. Thus, assuming that Peter. house pays its non-Resident Fellows 230/ a year, the sacrifice of two of these will alone be required to enable that College to do its share towards providing 20,000/, annually for University purposes. We mention this because we are sure to hear of the Colleges being crippled, and it,is clear that only wooden legs are threatened. The quota is subject to revision at any time not less than five years after the approval of the Statute by the Queen in Council, and again after intervals of not less than ten years from that or any subsequent revision, the revision at such times being made, on the requisition of any one or more Colleges, by the Chancellor of the University with assistants. The sum to be contributed by the Colleges in any year from January 1 next after the approval of the Statute se VoL, xx1.—No. 528 the Queen in Council tothe end of the year 1882 is not to be less than 8,000/. nor more than 10,000/, ; in each of the years 1883, 1884, 1885, and 1886 not less than. 12,000/. nor more than 15,000/. ; in each of the years 1887, 1888, 1889, and 1890, not less than 16,000/, nor more than 20,000/. ; in each of the years 1891, 1892, 1893, and 1894, not less than 20,000/. nor more than 25,000/,; and in every subsequent year not less than 25,000/, The Colleges will not be required to contribute in any year a greater sum than 25,000/. without the consent of a majority of votes ata meeting of Representatives of the Col- leges called for the purpose of considering the question. This money contribution, however, is not the only one. Taking advantage of a system which has, it may be said, been suggested by the best of the Colleges themselves, it is ruled that there shall be in every College one or more Fellowships assigned to Professorships, such Fellowships to be called Professorial Fellowships. The Professor admitted into any Professorship to which a Fellowship is thus assigned shall thereby iJso facto vacate any Fellowship he may hold at any College ; and he shall have the same privileges, dividend, and emolu- ments as any other Fellow of the College to which the Professorship is attached. A Professor admitted into any Professorship to which a Fellowship is assigned by this Statute shall zfso facto vacate any Mastership he may hold at a College other than that to which the Professorial Fellowship attached to the Professorship is assigned ; and if the Professor be admitted to the Mastership of any College other than that to which the Professorship is attached, he shall vacate his Professorship. If upon the vacancy of any Professorial Fellowship the College declines to elect as Fellow the Professor to whose office the Fellowship} is assigned, the Fellowship will re- main vacant, its dividend being paid to the University. A Professor retiring from office after holding it for not less than twenty years, shall be deemed thereafter an Honorary Fellow of the College, enjoying such privileges and advantages as the College may from time to time determine. The first vacancy in the Fellowships of a College after the election of a Professorto whose office a Fellowship at that College is assigned, is to be appropriated to the Professorship. The next section of the new Statutes deals with the Financial Board of the rehabilitated University. We need not refer to this here, except to say that the scheme seems wisely drawn and that the Colleges are to be well represented on it. We next come to the Boards of Studies. Eleven such Boards are to be constituted for all im- portant departments of study recognised in the University, and are to consist of the Professors hereinafter assigned to such boards severally, together with such Readers, University Lecturers, Examiners, and other persons as may be chosen from time to time by the Senate. The Boards to be first appointed are for— Physics and Chemistry. Natural Science. Divinity. Medicine. Law. Classics. ~ Language. History. — Mathematics. Moral Science. | Music. 126 NATURE [ Dec. 11, 1879 But with great wisdom, and here it is to be added that the Commissioners have introduced as much elasticity as possible, the University is to have power to vary the number and designation of these Special Boards from time to time on the recommendation of the General Board of Studies, provided that the whole number of such Boards shall never be less than eight. The Professors assigned to the said eleven Boards are as follows :— ( Regius. | Lady Margaret's. Hulsean. | Norrisian. LEly. Regius. ..\ Downing. Whewell. ( Regius. \ Downing. “ | Anatomy. Pathology. ey of Greek. { Taio, ES of Hebrew. | Divinity . TeaWa | ince Medicine Classics Arabic. Sanskrit. Anglo-Saxon. Lucasian, Plumian. Lowndean. . Sadlerian. Jacksonian. Chemistry. Mechanism. Cavendish of Physics. est Astronomy and Astronomi- cal Physics. Woodwardian. Botany. F Mineralogy. Natural Science... ... et Zoology. le oo Anatomy. [ Physiology. Modern History. Disney. Thirlwall. Dixie. Knightbridge, | Political Economy. *) Mental | Logic. Music. Language Mathematics Physics and Chemistry History on, Maye 35 Moral Science Philosophy and Music ... Power is again given to the University to vary the assignment of Professors to the several Special Boards on the recommendation of the General Board of Studies. Each Special Board is to consult together from time to time on all matters relating to the studies and examinations of the University in its department, and in consultation | with the Professors, Readers, and University Lecturers connected with its department, frame a scheme of lectures in every year; objects of every particular Professorship, so as to distribute the several branches of learning in the best manner. These Special Boards are to be controlled by a General Board of Studies, consisting of the Vice-Chancellor, one member of every Special Board of Studies elected by that Board, and eight members of the Senate. The duty of the General Board is to consult together Jessor taking care to provide that the subjects of | the said lectures be determined with regard to the general | | been seen, is small ; | power of the University is, however, great. on all matters relating to the studies and examinations of the University, including the maintenance and improve- ment of existing institutions, and the establishment and maintenance of new institutions. Among the functions of the General Board are the superintendence of laboratory work and the subordination when necessary of the Readers and University Lecturers to the professors. Those who know Cambridge at present will have seen in the foregoing lists some new Professorships. As a matter of fact six new Professorships are to be established in the University for the following subjects, viz. :— Physiology Pathology. Mental Philosophy and Logic. Astronomical Physics. History, Thirlwall. Ecclesiastical History, Dixie. The Professors in these subjects are to be appointed before the end of the year 1882. Here again the Commissioners show a wise discretion in ruling that the University shall have power to establish from time to time Professorships for other departments of learning or science. The Professorships so established may either be limited to a definite term of years or to the tenure of office of one Professor only ; and if not so limited, they may be suspended or discontinued on the occurrence of any vacancy. The stipends of the Professors, it is suggested, should be raised from their present level to correspond with the following scheme :— Professors. & i Regius of Law.. 600 | Experimental Physics 750 Whevwell 500 | Mechanism 5 400 Regius of Medicine... 400 | Astronomical Physics: 500 Anatomy ... ... 300 | Woodwardian ... 500 Pathology ... 600 | Botany 300 Greek ..» 750] Mineralogy — ..: 300 Latin ... ... .. + 750) Zoology and Compara- Arabic 500 tive Anatomy 600 Sanskrit 500 | Physiology =... ... 600 Anglo-Saxon .«.. 500 | Modern History ... 400 Lucasian 750 | Thirlwall. Plumian 750 | Dixie. Lowndean ... 600 | Knightbridge ... ... 400 Sadlerian ... 600 | Political Economy ... 300 Jacksonian 600} Mental Philosophy Chemistry... 750 and Logic ... ... 400 | Music peti ee It must not be forgotten that the above sums are exclu- sive of the dividend on the Fellowship which is held by | each Professor; and, further, the University is given power to vary the stipends from time to time, provided that no such variation shall affect the interest of a Pro- without his consent, or diminish the aggregate amount of payment to the whole body of Professors. That is to say, the scheme is perfectly elastic, only the Commissioners do not intend to have it improved into effeteness. The actual increase to the Professoriate, it will have the ultimate increase to the teaching This is accomplished by the appointment, in connection with the departments of study for which Special Boards of Studies are appointed, of a body of teachers called Readers. i aa SoS Yel. 1 1, 1879] NATURE 127 __ The number of Readers to be appointed is twenty-nine, distributed as follows :— Divinity iS ae Medicine ap poe Classics Mis es tee Language C ae ae Mathematics ... ats re ees Physics and Chemistry Natural Science History Moral Science sie vad rs Of these not less than fourteen are to be appointed before the end of the year 1882, and the rest before the end of the year 1886. The University may vary the connection of the Readers with the several Special Boards of Studies, and increase their number, upon the recommendation of the General Board of Studies. The stipend of a Reader is 400/. a year, subject to varia- tion by grace of the Senate upon the recommendation of the General Board of Studies, but no such variation shall affect the interest of a Reader without his consent, or diminish the aggregate amount of payments to the whole body of Readers. The University is to have power to give pensions to retiring Readers according to circumstances, as the Senate may think fit. Another arrangement for increasing the teaching power in the University is the appointment of University lecturers. The General Board of Studies acting in conjunction with any Special Board may choose as Lecturers in the department of study for which the Special Board is formed such College Lecturers as they may think fit, who are willing, with the concurrence of their respective Col- leges, to throw open their lectures to all students of the University. The Lecturers so chosen are to be called University Lec- turers, and each of them shall receive from the University an annual stipend of 5o0/. No one is to be appointed to this office who does not receive from his College an annual stipend of at least 200/, as Lecturer, irrespective of the income ofa Fellowshi p or other College emolument; the office of University Lecturer becomes 7/so facto vacant if the holder of it ceases to hold the office of College Lecturer or receives from such office a less stipend than 200/. a year. The number of University Lecturers and their connec- tion with the Special Boards of Studies shall be deter- mined from time to time, provided that when fit persons can be found the whole number shall be not less than thirty [one-half to be appointed before the end of the year 1882, and the rest before the end of the year 1884]. There is only one other point of the Statutes which we need analyse on the present occasion ; this refers to the duties of Professors and Readers. It is laid down that it shall be the duty of every Pro- fessor and Reader as well to devote himself to research and the aavancement of knowledge in his department as to give lectures in every year. It is impossible to estimate the good these words will do to the cause of research in England, where so many of our Professors sink to the level of mere traders. They aoe aoe eee wee NHN ALK NWN should, though perhaps less necessary at Cambridge than elsewhere, be put up in letters of gold on the Senate House. It will be sufficiently clear from the foregoing that with the great increase of teaching power which the Statutes confer the University should rise phcenix-like from its ashes, and that the present condition of things will be entirely changed. How Cambridge in the new order of things will stand as compared with other Universities, and the lines along which future work and reforms may run, are questions so interesting that we may return to them and others ona future occasion. AURORE Aurore: their Characters and Spectra. Capron, F.R.A.S. 1879.) N Mr. Gore’s delightful book on the “ Art of Scientific Discovery,” it is said that “during the prosecution of an original investigation, the area of question and discovery enlarges as we proceed, and the research in some cases develops into such complexity and magnitude, that solu- tion of its questions appears for a time hopeless. Gene- rally, however, when that discouraging point is attained, the subject begins to clear, and by persistent research is gradually reduced to order, and is found to conform to a few general laws or principles.” The first part of this paragraph is only too apt a descrip- tion of the present stage of the inquiry into the causes and nature of the Polar aurora. The striking character of the phenomenon itself, its evident connection with electric and magnetic disturbances, its unaccountable spectrum, and the relations which various observers have believed they had detected with solar spots, and coronal rays, are powerful stimulants to scientific curiosity. But so far the most painstaking researches have failed to seize the connecting link which should unite these various aspects into one organic whole ; and we can only hope that the concluding sentence which we have quoted may be a prophesy of ultimate success. Under such circumstances Mr. Capron has done good service to science by col- lecting in a compact form the whole information which we possess on the subject, for it is only by careful study of what is already known that we can decide on the point of attack which gives the best hope of further conquest. The first four chapters of the book are taken up with descriptions of specific aurore, Among these we are sorry to miss a fuller account of the careful and accurate observations made by Lieut. Weyprecht during the Austrian Arctic Expedition of 1872-4. His description of arctic aurore, as quoted from Payer’s ‘New Lands Within the Arctic Circle,’’ is exceedingly graphic and picturesque, but the original paper’ as read before the Imperial Austrian Academy of Science, with its accurate classification of auroral forms, seems to have escaped the author's notice, as it is not even named in the list of papers in the appendix. In Chapter V. the question of sound produced by the northern lights is discussed with the result that the balance of evidence is against it. Upon the height o I « Die Nordlichtbeobachtungen der dsterreichisch-ungarischen arctischen Expedition 1872-74,” von Carl Weyprecht, vorgelegt 17 Mai, 1877. By J. Rand (London: E. and F. N. Spon, 128 auroree the most diverse conclusions are quoted, trigono- metrical measurements giving results varying from a few thousand feet up to 1,000 miles, while there are several well attested instances in which auroral rays have been seen actually between the observer and terrestrial objects. If these latter observations are correct it is evident that aurore may be produced near the earth’s surface, and consequently in air of considerable density. They are supported by the fact that the lower trigonometrical measurements are less liable to fallacy than the higher, since in the latter it may always be objected that ob- servers at different stations might have seen different arches, or that the auroral arch in general is merely a perspective illusion produced by the termination of vast numbers of parallel rays at the same height. Additional observations of aurorze seen between the observer and mountain-tops or other elevated objects would be of great scientific interest. Another very important line of inquiry noted by Mr. Capron is that of the connection of clouds and aurore, some types of cirrus cloud so much resembling aurore in their forms and arrangement that it is very probable that in some of the reported cases of daylight aurore the observers may merely have noted arches of cirrus. On the other hand, it is by no means unlikely that some form of cloud, especially that which consists of small particles of ice, may be illuminated by electric discharges, and be the actual material basis of the phenomenon. In this connection the coincidence of aurorze with mock suns and similar appearances is of interest, since these indicate the presence of minute ice-crystals in the upper air. The Whitby fishermen, on September 23 of this year, reported a considerable aurora, and on the same night the moon, “ prior to being obscured by clouds, seemed to shed a radiant glow straight up and down” (probably a rudimentary paraselene). If aurora really is ever visible by daylight, it would seem almost incontestable that it must consist in some form of mist capable of reflecting as well as of emitting light, for the light of the brightest aurora is very inferior in zz¢ensity to that of the moon’s surface, and the moon by daylight only appears like a faint white cloud. An aurora is a very brilliant one which lights the earth as brightly as the full moon, and yet it probably covers a great part of the sky, while the moon’s diameter is only half a degree. On p. 47 Mr. Capron summarises a most interesting investigation of Donati’s on the time of appearance of the great aurora of February 4, 1872, in which he shows that it did not appear everywhere really simultaneously, but at the same local hour, as if it depended, like celestial phenomena, on something fixed and external to the earth and its rotation. If this were more than a mere coin- cidence it would be of the utmost importance, as proving the cosmical character of the aurora, and it is very desirable that the investigation should be repeated as soon as a sufficiently extended display presents the opportunity. Probably there is already such information stored in meteorological registers for whoever will take the trouble to seek it out. In Chapter VII. some observations of the moon during eclipse are described, and it is suggested that the curious red lighting of the shadowed portion may be due to lunar ? Friends’ Schools Nat. Hist. ¥ourn., November 1s. NATURE [Dec. 11, 1879 aurora. Spectral observations, however, seem to lend no support to the theory. It is noted that the colours of Jupiter’s bands seem brightest during periods of auroral frequency. The suggested connection between aurore and zodiacal light is dismissed as unfounded, the latter evidently being some form of reflected sunlight, and having a totally different spectrum. The relation of the aurora to the solar corona seems almost equally shadowy, depending solely on a supposed coincidence of ove of the lines in the coronal spectrum with a faint band of doubtful position in that of the aurora. We entirely sympathise with the author in his protest against the identification of spectra by the mere coincidence of sézg/e lines. Such coinci- dences within the limits of observation with instru- ments of small dispersion are exceedingly: numerous, and the only safe ground of identification is that of like- ness of general features, or at least coincidence of many lines. The latter half of the volume is mainly devoted to the discussion of the auroral spectrum and its supposed coin- cidences. A reference to the plate and catalogue of auroral lines (p. 104), however, is sufficient to show that it is little use as yet to compare these measures with the accurate determinations of solar and spark lines, only one line out of the nine or ten given being positioned with any approach to accuracy or general agreement of the obser- vers, even tothe third figure, It is much to be hoped that Mr. Capron’s suggestion of photographing the spectrum may prove practicable, and after his extraordinary suc- cess with the lines of vacuum tubes, as evidenced in his recent work on “ Photographic Spectra,” we can hardly doubt it. Dry plates are now prepared of extraordinary sensitiveness, and there is practically no limit to the time of exposure which may be employed. We may briefly summarise, however, the results of comparison, so far as it is possible to compare with such defective measures. Perhaps the first supposed identification of the auroral spectrum was that of Procter, who announced the corre- spondence of the bright yellow-green line with a band in a vacuum tube, which he supposed to be due to oxygen, but afterwards ascribed to a hydrocarbon impurity. We should not allude to this here, since the correspondence broke down under high dispersion, the auroral line proy- ing slightly more refrangible than that of the tube; but that we wish to give a word of explanation as to the con- stant recurrence of these carbon lines, which haye proved misleading to many experimenters. As is well known, the glass tubes and apparatus employed in such re- searches are made by the use of a blowpipe fed with coal- gas. The imperfectly burnt products of combustion inevitably pass into the comparatively cool glass tubes, and some of them, such as naphthalene, being of high density, they are condensed on the inner surfaces, and obstinately retained. When, however, they are subjected to the high vacuums of the Sprengel pump, they slowly volatilise, and being good conductors of the electrical discharge, become frequently so brilliant as completely to mask the spectrum of the small residue of other gas in the tube. By heating the tube strongly during exhaus- tion and “ washing out’ many times with the pure gas of which the spectrum is desired, these accidental spectra : Dec, 11, 1879] may be got rid of, or at least, so much paled as to betray their character as interlopers. This, however, is an amount of labour hardly to be expected of those who make tubes in a commercial way, and it is to be regretted that in Mr. Capron’s painstaking research, he was com- pelled to employ such tubes instead of preparing them for himself. In a future research we would suggest the employment of tubes thoroughly heated and washed out with air in the first instance, and then worked with a blowpipe fed with pure hydrogen. Unfortunately throughout, the tubes employed both by Mr. Capron and by Dr. Vogel seem to have been of doubtful purity. That figured on plate xiv. as hydrogen, contains bands of most suspicious resemblance to those of nitrogen, while the oxygen tubes, beside the one or two lines which seemed peculiar to themselves, gave others which were proved by direct comparison, to coincide with those of carbon and hydrogen, though the relative intensities seemed somewhat altered. Supposed coincidences have been pointed out by Angstrém, Vogel, and others, between the auroral spec- trum and those of the various gases, such as oxygen, nitrogen, and hydrogen, which are present in the atmo- sphere. Unfortunately these coincidences do not extend to the one bright line which has been accurately measured, but only to the fainter ones, the positions of which are so doubtful that they might be made to corre- spond with any spectrum the lines of which were toler- ably numerous, so that, intrinsically probable as they may be, we cannot regard them as positively established. Absolutely no coincidence has been made out between the bright yellow-green line of the aurora and a principal one of any other known spectrum, and the same may be said of the sharp red line which occasionally flashes out in the spectrum, of.red auroree. Mr. Capron, however, points out that the green line coincides with a faint atmo- spheric absorption band, while the red line seems to occupy the position of the well-known a line of the solar spectrum, which Prof. Smyth has shown to be due to dry air. It would not be fair to conclude our notice of “ Aurorze ” without a few words of praise to the admirable illustra- tions, several of which are chromolithographs. Of these perhaps the best in artistic effect is a facsimile of a water- colour drawing of a white aurora seen by the author at Kyle Akin in Skye. But in fact the whole appearance of the book suggests at first glance art rather than science, and we should suppose it is but rarely that a purely scientific treatise has appeared in so ornamental a dress. OUR BOOK SHELF A Treatise on Metalliferous Mines and Mining. By D. C. Davies, F.G.S. 8vo. (London: Crosby Lockwood and Co., 1880.) THE objects of this book, as stated in the preface, are “to describe in a concise and systematic manner the conditions under which metallic ores are found in different countries in the world,’’ and further, ‘‘ by defining the zones occupied by the various metallic ores to lessen somewhat the amount of unsuccessful search for them.’’ For the first purpose the author notices a large number of mines in various parts of the world, partly from his own observations and partly from accounts published in special journals and in the transactions of scientific = i i NATURE 129 societies; and for the second, he deduces from such descriptive matter certain general conclusions, which, in their more important points, are as follows :— . € Gold and silver never occur in strata newer than the carboniferous period.” “Copper ores with trifling exceptions are only found in the lower Cambrian carboniferous and new red sand- stone formations.” “ The highest horizon of lead ores is in the carboniferous limestone.” The conclusions are apparently derived from the study of phenomena in Wales, and to render them universally applicable all that is necessary is to reconstruct the geology of the rest of the world to suit them, which the author does in a thorough-going fashion. Thus the system requires for Cornwall that the age of the granites should be Laurentian, and the killas and other schistose rocks Cambrian, Silurian, Devonian, &c., in regular suc- cession; and therefore the author concludes that the received view which makes the granite post-carboniferous is a mistake, and corrects his authorities accordingly, even when quoting their observations. Thus in repro- ducing Dr. Foster’s account of the Hay Tor iron ores he disputes their probable carboniferous age, and states that they may belong to an older group, and that possibly of a still older age are the deposits of the West of Ireland, which are found interstratified on the basaltic and por- phyritic rocks that skirt the west coast. It appears from a preceding page that by these are meant the iron ores of Antrim, which occur in miocene basalts on the north-east coast between Larne and the Giant’s Causeway, and about whose age no question can possibly be raised by any one with the smallest geological knowledge, Much of the information concerning foreign mines is exceedingly inaccurate, indeed it is difficult to see whence some of it is derived. For example, on p. 240, in a para- graph describing the zinc ores of Silesia, itis stated that the calamine of that country averages 20 to 30 per cent. of metallic zinc, which by selection and dressing is brought up to 70 per cent.; that in 1876 sixty-four mines produced 31,315 tons of zinc ore, and a reference to a paper by Huene in the Jowrna/ of the German Geological Society is given as an authority. As these statements are contrary to what is generally known upon these subjects, an attempt has been made to verify them ; andit appears that (1) the average yield of the Silesian zine ores in 1876 as smelted was 11°84 per cent.; (2) the production of zinc ores in Silesia in 1876 was 449,374 tons; (3) the paper by Huene, published in 1851, has nothing whatever to do with Silesia, as it describes some zinc mines at Bergisch-Gladbach near Cologne. The above examples taken quite at random will be suf- ficient to show the generally untrustworthy character of the book. H. B. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR [The Editor does not hold himself responsible for opinions expressed by his correspondents. Neither can he undertake to return, or to correspond with the writers of, rejected manuscripts. No notice is taken of anonymous communications. [ The Editor urgently requests correspondents to keep their letters as short as possible, The pressure on his space is so great that it is impossible otherwise to ensure the appearance even of com- munications containing interesting and novel facts.) Why the Air at the Equator is not Hotter in January than in July Tue following, I think, is the explanation of Mr. Fisher's difficulty (NATURE, vol. xx. p. 577), why the January tempera~ at the equator when the earth is in perihelion is not much higher than in July when in aphelion. The temperature to which Mr. Fisher refers is the ordinary temperature as indicated by the shade thermometer, which of course is simply that of the air. The difficulty is more apparent than real, for if we examine the indirect results which follow from the present distribution of land 130 NATURE [Dec. 11, 1879 and water, we shall see that there is no reason whatever why the air at the equator should be hotter in January than in July. It is well known that, notwithstanding the nearness of the sun in January, the influence of the present distribution of land and water is sufficient to make the mean temperature of the whole earth, or, what is the same, the mean temperature of the air over the surface of the earth higher in July than in January. The reason of this is obvious, Nearly all the land is in the northern hemisphere, while the southern hemisphere is for the most part water. The surface of the northern or land-hemi- sphere, for reasons to which I need not here refer, becomes heated in summer and cooled in winter to a far greater extent than the surface of the southern or water hemisphere. Conse- quently when we add the July or midsummer temperature of the northern to the July temperature of the southern hemisphere, we must get a higher number than when we add the January or midwinter temperature of the former to the January temperature of the latter. For example, the mean July temperature of the northern hemisphere, according to Dove (‘‘ Distribution of Heat on the Surface of the Globe”) is 70°*9, and that of the southern hemisphere 53°°6 ; add the two together and we have 124°'s, which gives a mean for both hemispheres of 62°°3. The mean January temperature of the northern hemisphere is 48°*9, which, added to 59°°5, the mean January temperature of the southern hemisphere, gives only 108°'4, or a mean of 54°2, Conse- quently the air over the surface of the globe is hotter in July by 8° than in January, notwithstanding the effects of eccentricity. It is obvious that, were it not for the counteracting effects of eccen- tricity, the difference would be much greater. Ten thousand years ago, when eccentricity and the distribution of land and water combined to produce the same effect, the difference must have been far greater than 8°. But it will be asked, How can this affect the air over the equator, which is not situated more on the one hemisphere than on the other? It is true that those causes have but little direct effect on the air at the equator, but zzdzrectly they have a very powerful influence. The air is continually flowing in to the equatorial regions from both hemispheres. In fact, the air which we find there is derived entirely from the temperate re- gions. In July we have the northern trades coming from a hemisphere with a mean temperature as high as 70°’9, and the southern trades coming from a hemisphere with a mean tempera- ture not under 53°, while in January the former trades flow from a hemisphere as low as 50°, and the latter from a hemisphere no higher than 60°. Consequently the air which the equatorial regions received from the trades must have a higher temperature in July than in January. The northern is the dominant hemi- sphere ; it pours in hot air in July and cold air in January, and this effect is not counterbalanced by the air from the opposite hemisphere. The snean temperature of the air passing into the equatorial regions ought therefore to be much higher in July than in January, and this it no doubt would be were it not, let it be observed, for the counteracting effects of eccentricity. The tendency of the present distribution of land and water, when our northern winter occurs in perihelion, is to counteract the effects of eccentricity. But ten thousand years ago, when our winters were in aphelion, that cause would co-operate to intensify the effects of eccentricity. In fact, it would actually more than double the effects then produced by eccentricity. Now if the influence of the present distribution of land and water is so great as not merely to counteract but to reverse the effects of eccentricity to the extent of making the mean temperature of the earth 8° warmer in July than in January, it is not surprising that it should be sufficient to make the equatorial regions at least as warm in the former as in the latter period. The fact that the equator at present is not hotter when the earth is in perihelion, instead of being an objection to the theory that the glacial period was due to an increase of eccentricity, as Mr, Fisher supposes, is in reality another strong argument in its favour, for it shows that a much less amount of eccentricity would suffice to induce a commencement of glacial conditions in the northern hemisphere than would otherwise be required, were it not for the circumstance to which Mr. Fisher refers. This objection, like many others which have been urged against the theory, arises from looking too exclusively at the direct effects of eccentricity. There is another cause which must also tend to lower the January and raise the July temperature of the equator, viz., the northern trades pass further south in January than in July, and consequently cool the equatorial regions more during the former than the latter season. This general tendency of the trades to lower the temperature of the equatorial regions more in January than in July is of course subject to modifications from the mon- soons, the rainy seasons, and other local causes ; nevertheless, so long as the present distribution of land and water endures, so long will eccentricity have a counteracting effect upon the tem- perature of the air at the equator, which but for that would be hotter in July than in January. Mr. Fisher somewhat misapprehends what he designates my ‘*fundamental proposition.” What I stated was ‘‘ the tempera- ture of a place other things being equal is proportional to the heat received from the sun.” Those who have read what I have written on this point will remember that what I mean is, that if the temperature of any place depended alone on the direct heat of the sun that temperature would be proportional to the amount received. But then there is no such spot on the face of the globe—there is no place where heat or cold distributed by ocean or aérial currents does not affect the temperature—and I have in ‘Climate and Time,” pp. 41-44, proved that, with the exception of the Arctic regions, there is no part where the temperature is so much affected by those currents as the equator. Were it not for the cooling effect produced by them the equator would be uninhabitable. No knowledge whatever as to the intensity of the sun’s heat can be obtained from observations on the tempera- ture of the air at the equator. The comparatively cold air flowing in from the temperate regions has not time to be fully heated by the sun’s rays before it rises as an ascending current and returns to the temperate regions from whence it came. More than this these trades prevent us from being able to determine with accuracy the intensity of the sun’s heat from the tempera- ture of the ground ; for the surface of the ground in equatorial regions is kept at a much lower temperature by the air blowing over it than is due to the intensity of the sun’s heat. It thus becomes a very intricate problem to determine how much the surface of the ground is kept below the maximum temperature by the heat absorbed by the moving air, I may add that although my estimates of the lowering effect resulting from the decrease of the sun’s heat arising from increase of distance were computed according to Newton’s law, yet I distinctly stated that this law holds only approximately true, but that nevertheless, for reasons given at p. 34 of ‘*Climate and Time,” it would be found near enough for my purpose. James CROLL A Possible Consequence of our Present Weather I HAVE observed on several occasions that abnormally cold weather in November has been followed by an unusually mild mid-winter and January. These may possibly have been mere accidental coincidences, or they may be connected by a link of causation thus. Our climate, and more especially our winter climate, is largely influenced by the Gulf Stream, and whatever augments this raises our winter temperature, and vice vers. How, then, is the Gulf Stream likely to be affected by an unusual prevalence of Arctic winds and unusual cold in these latitudes ? Such winds, must, to some extent, drive the waters of the Atlantic towards the source of the Gulf Stream, and tend to heap them there, and if there is any truth in the theory which attributes ocean currents to differences of oceanic temperatures, the present unusually cooled waters of the temperate zone will co-operate with the winds and augment this accumulation by their underflow. Ido not mean that these combined actions are reversing the Gulf Stream at the present time, but simply that they are exerting a counter action or retarding influence which must result in augmenting the normal magnitude of the reservoir, or tropical accumulation, the outflow of which constitutes the Gulf Stream, and that thus the volume and velocity of the tropical waters which usually flow towards our coast will be augmented when the pressure of the present Arctic winds shall cease, and that our climate will be influenced accordingly. If I am_ right we may, in spite of present symptoms, or rather on account of them, haye an unusually warm Christmas season and January. This idea is not thrown out as a mere weather prophecy, but as a suggestive hypothesis and an incentive to what appears to me to be a very important and a much neglected branch of meteoro- logical research, viz., systematic observation and record of the variations of the Gulf Stream. The countries whose coast is washed by this beneficent river of ocean are deeply interested in its movements. The Norwegians have already done something towards recording its variations, but so far as I can learn we, who are almost as deeply concerned as they are, have done little or nothing, Dee. 11, 1879] NATURE += 131 _ It may be that our agricultural troubles of the past three years are in some measure due to its disturbance ; if so, it is of national importance that we should study its variations in order to learn whether they are reducible to law, and thus capaple of anticipa- tions sufficiently reliable to induce prudential preparation for their national consequences. W. MAtTTIE£Ev WILLIAMS Stonebridge Park, Willesden [With the extreme desirableness of an immediate and systematic observation, by European nationalities, of the temperature of the Gulf Stream, and of variations in the rate and direction of movement northwards from the tropics of the warm water and of the cold water southwards we very cordially concur, As another illustration of the practical utility of a better knowledge than we now possess of this subject, we may refer to the higher temperature and consequently larger evaporation than usual of the Atlantic in lower latitudes, along with a lower temperature, and consequently lower evaporation than usual farther north, in | the beginning of the winter of 1878-79, as being in all likelihood one of the chief causes which brought us the miserable weather of the last twelve months. It is far from being beyond the reach of science to show how the larger evaporation from the more southerly regions of the Atlantic continued to spread itself over Europe farther to south than usual, from which resulted the more’ southerly course pursued by our European storms, with the accom- panying plague of east wind and rains over the British Isles, and the commercial distress thus deepened and prolonged. The im- portance of the inquiry is all the greater when it is considered that the past three years have impressively taught us how, not in India only, as shown by Blanford, but also in our British climate, certain types of weather, such as cold, warm, wet, or dry, when once fairly set in, tend to repeat themselves, and stamp their character on whole seasons or even a succession of seasons. It is by such lines of research that something more than a mere guess of the weather of coming seasons is to be obtained.— ED. ] The Climate of England WILL you permit me, as a student for twenty years of the phenomena and laws of weather, to express my surprise that in meteorological tables or records, and weather notices in general, so little attention is bestowed upon the direction of the wind? It is true that in the daily forecasts issued from the Meteoro- logical Office, this has been made for some time past a prominent, and, to my mind, the most valuable feature. Still the point has by no means been adequately dwelt upon by writers upon meteorology, the result being the loose and utterly unscientific talk we are accustomed to hear upon the very first principles of the problem of climate. : What is more common than to hear people remark that the climate of England has changed within the last few years? Their main ground for saying so is our having had for four or five seasons winters of exceptional mildness, followed last year by one of as remarkable severity and duration, and to all appearance likely to have following it one of not very different character.” The popular idea of climate has always seemingly been that of something affixed to the soil, a feature as fixed and characteristic as the rivers or mountain chains. Now, strictly speaking, there are for us but two real sources or loci of climate, the pole and the equatorial belts ; the cold heavy currents of air from the Arctic regions flowing south, to take the place of the light warm air so rarefied by the sun’s heat as to form a comparative vacuum. The aérial set of flux and reflux thus tending to be set-up along meridian lines is deflected eastwards by the rotation of the earth on its axis, with the result that in our part of the earth at least the wind is found to blow from some point of west to east for much about 200 days out of the 365. So limited is our sea-girt insular area, that within a few hours, depending on the velocity of the wind, the whole breadth of Great Britain is traversed, so that instead of breathing a climate engendered by local condi- tions, and to becalled our own, we live in an atmosphere reaching us from abroad, and mcdified by the conditions through which it passes to us (into which I forbear at present to”enter in detail), Observation combines with theory to establish the primary fact that what may be called the ruling line or axis of prevailing wind in our island is that from south-west to north-east approxi- mately, Along this line may be said to take place, in the main, the perennial contest of opposing air-currents, on which depends the character of our seasons, the light warm balmy breath of the equatorial current, or so-called Gulf Stream, having to battle with the dry, heavy, chilling atmospheric masses bearing down direct from the Polar regions, or circling over the steppes of Russia, or the uplands of Scandinavia, Drawing a line at right angles to this, or from north-west to south-east, we shall find that so long as the wind keeps well within the south-westerly aspect of this diagonal, frost either sharp or long is with us impossible, and as an immediate response to the vane veering or backing from one side to the other, a rise or fall of the thermo- meter is to be observed, which may vie with that due to the sun’s place in the zodiac, The mercury may be seen to stand as high in January as in June, If we ask why the four or five winters preceding the last severe one were so exceptionally mild, the proximate answer is that during the months when the sun’s power continued low, we enjoyed a succession of south-westerly winds which tempered ‘‘winter’s flaw.” Last year, onihe contrary, the wind kept early and persistently to the northerly and easterly quarters ; and were proper tables available, I believe that an abnormal prevalence of those Polar currents would be shown to have marked the later seasons of this most exceptional year, The problem is thus shifted a step. , What we have to inquire into is the cause or causes to which is due so exceptional and persistent a flow of wind from one alternative quarter to the other. To aim at anything like a forecast of winter or summer weather before knowing what the prevalent set of the aérial currents is to be, is to invert the essential conditions of the problem, and to put the cart before the horse. It is for meteorologists, I would urge, to concentrate their attention upon the causes or laws, which determine or disturb the periodical motions of the earth’s envelope, especially as it oscillates to and fro across the limited and exceptionally situated group of the British Islands, Simple as sucha suggestion may appear to men of science, the notices they have as yet given us will by no means, I believe, show it to be superfluous. It is the conviction that the primary and elementary conditions of the problem are far from having been grasped by the general public that has led me thus far to trespass upon your space. Gray’s Inn, December 2 ALEXANDER TAYLOR A Correction A FEW weeks ago I had some correspondence with the late Mr, J. Allan Broun on the subject of my communication to NATUuRE, vol. xx. p. 54, in the course of which he drew my attention to an error in my value for the barometric oscillation corresponding to 1° F. (2 = 42) at Sibsagar. He said:— ‘You had a note on the difference of results for Lucknow and Sibsagar both nearly at the same height; the values of g you made oo17 and 0'028, the latter for Sibsagar should have Ap _ C477» At 26°6 I acknowledge the error, and take this opportunity of men- tioning it as I fear Mr. Broun’s article on the subject, which he told me was shortly to appear in NATURE, and in which he would most probably have drawn attention to my error, has been cut short by his sudden and lamented decease. His last letter to me containing the above correction was dated November 15, just a week before he died. , I may add that while the above error (which was due to my taking A ¢ to be 16’6 instead of 26°6) disqualifies Sibsagar from demonstrating that the value of g depends on the distance from the coast independently of the altitude, the rule is nevertheless generally evident, and can be shown equally well by taking Goalpara instead of Sibsagar with Lucknow. At Goalpara 4 = 386 feet, — AP _ 0°448 _ 4. At. wry 0°023. E. DovGLAs ARCHIBALD been o’o18 or g Tunbridge Wells, November 29 Monkeys in the West Indies In his very interesting paper on ‘‘ Tails,” which appeared in NATuRE, vol. xx. p. 510, Prof. Mivart says, ‘‘ Monkeys are scattered over almost all the warmest parts of the earth ‘save the West Indies, Madagascar, New Guinea, and Australia.” As regards the West Indies the statement is not quite correct, and Je am sure Prof, Mivart will be glad to receive the following 132 NATURE [Dec. 11, 1879 information on the subject. In the islands of St, Christopher and Nevis, which form part of the division of islands commonly called the Lesser Antilles, monkeys are found in large numbers, and a planter friend in the former island, which I have recently visited, assured me that he had lately been obliged to appoint a *‘monkey-watchman” to protect the cane-fields and the sweet- potato fields of his estate from the destructive raids of bands of monkeys. In the island of Nevis, which at one time must have formed part of St, Christopher, and which is now only divided from the latter by a very narrow arm of the sea, appropriately called “* Fhe Narrows,” monkeys—the same as those of St. Christopher —exist in great numbers, and I may add that the tails are ‘* per- fectly prehensile,” z,e., ‘‘naked beneath towards the tip.” Of Trinidad I cannot speak from personal observation, but a scientific friend of mine, Dr, H. A. Alford Nicholls, who lately visited Trinidad, kindly writes to me as follows :—‘*‘ Prof. Mivart has certainly made a mistake about there being no monkeys: in the West Indies, I find, too, that in a work on “Central America, the. West Indies, and South America,’ edited by the traveller, Bates, it is stated that there are no monkeys in the Antilles. You know more of the monkeys of St. Kitts and Nevis than I do, but I can tell you something of your Trinidad cousins, There are two kinds of monkeys in Trinidad, and as the fauna is continental, they will doubtless be found on the mainland of South America. One belongs to the Mycetes, and it is called the Red Howler, partly on account of its loud and hideous cries; the other, a diminutive specimen of the Cebidz, is called the ‘Sapajou;’ it is a Cebus,” I shall be glad to supply any further information on the sub- ject of monkeys in St. Christopher and Nevis. Dominica, British West India, EDMUND WATT November 11 . Earthquakes in Iceland In Nature, vol, xxi. p. 89, I see the earthquake which occurred in Iceland on September 24 last ascribed to ‘volcanic eruptions in the Krisuvik Mountains, a locality where eruptions have not been known within the memory of the present genera- tion,” The use of the word ‘‘ eruption” here is misleading, for though the earthquakes, which frequently occur at Krisuvik, are no doubt caused by volcanic action, nothing of the nature of an eruption, in the usual sense of the word, has been known to occur there within the historical period. The boiling springs, mud caldrons, and sulphur deposits, for which Krisuvik is noted, are, on the authority of Prof. Bunsen (Letters to Berzelius), to be ascribed to a pseudo-volcanic action occurring at compara- tively slight depths, Though slight earthquake shocks have frequently occurred, during the last eighteen months, while I was at Krisuvik, I have never observed that they had any effect on the boiling springs and other thermal phenomena. The earthquake of September 24 last, thongh more violent than any other which I have experienced there, differed from the rest in no other respect. They are generally confined to the neighbourhood of the hot springs and sulphur beds, though the last was felt over a wider area, and seldom do any damage, Edinburgh, December 1 W. G. SPENCE PATERSON Diatoms in London Clay I po not know if diatoms have been observed in the London clay, or not. If they have not, it may interest many to know that I have discovered triangular, quadrangular, elliptical, and discoidal forms in the London clay of Sheppey. The frustules are frequently perfect, and the markings are plainly discernible as square-sided depressions or elevations; I am not certain which. One of the discoidal forms is an old friend, for I ob- served it in abundance two years ago; but as I then had no knowledge of diatoms, I passed large quantities by as pyritous concretions, In my ignorance I stated in a paper on the well referred to (Proc. Geol. Assoc., vol. y. p. 357) : ‘¢ It should be mentioned that at and. below 293 feet the clay was thickly studded with very minute disks of iron pyrites, each having a boss in the centre, and the edge slightly turned up all round, They were uniformly perfect, as much so as if cast in one mould.” A few days ago I saw Avdicodiscus oreganus, and was struck ’ by its resemblance to the disks I had seen in the London clay. As I had not preserved any of these, I set to work to get more, if possible, and last night I was fortunate enough to find several distinct species, W. H. SHRUBSOLE 62, High Street, Sheerness-on-Sea, December 2 *Colour-Blindness THE remarks of Mr. Everett at the close of his paper (NATURE, vol. xxi. p. 62) on Prof, Hering’s theory, seem to be founded on a misconception. Prof. Hering assumes, not four, but six elements of colour-sensations connected by the equations— B+W=oR+C=o08'+ V=o, The specification of any colour in his system contains there independent variables, and is of the form phew D=aW+BRr+ cd, and it will usually take four equations to eliminate 7 and B, » It must be noted that Prof. Hering assumes that the red- green and blue-yellow sensations never occur in nature pure, but always mixed with white, If this is granted I do not think that the result of Maxwell’s experiments on colour-mixture will be found inconsistent with his theory. JOHN TENNANT ~ 19, The Boltons, S.W., November 28 Intellect in Brutes I orrer the following illustrations of reasoning powers in animals, should you care to insert them. I, Some years since, while hunting in Northern Michigan, I tried, with the aid of a professional trapper, to entrap a fox who made nightly visits to a spot where the entrails of a deer had been thrown. Although we tried every expedient that suggested itself to us, we were unsuccessful, and, what seemed very singular, we always found the empty trap sprung. My companion insisted that the animal dug beneath it, and putting his paw beneath the jaw, pushed down the pan with safety to himself; but though the appearances seemed to. confirm it, I could hardly credit his explanation. This year in another locality of the same region, an old and experienced trapper assured me of its correctness, and said in confirmation, that he had several times caught them, after they had made two or three successful attempts to spring the trap, by the simple expedient of setting it upside down, when, of course, the act of undermining and touching the pan would bring the paw within the grasp of the jaws. 2. A Dandie Dinmont terrier, after the death of his mistress, was playing with some children ina room into which was brought a photograph (large) of her, that he had never previously seen, It was placed upon the floor leaning against the wall. In the words of my informant, who witnessed it, the dog, when he suddenly caught sight of the picture, ‘‘crouched and trembled all over, his whole body quivering. ‘Then he crept along the floor till he reached it, and, seating himself before it, began to bark loudly, as if he would say, ‘Why don’t you speak to me ?’” The picture was moved to other parts of the room, and he followed, seating himself before it and repeating his barking. 3. The dog whose demoralisation by the salute of a monkey was published in NATURE, vol, xviii, p. 77, recently had another encounter with one, and behaved in so sneaking a manner as showed that he had not forgotten his first impression. Boston, November 22 CF, CREHORE Electric Lighting In NaTuRE, vol. xx. p. 641, you say, ‘‘ For the first time perhaps in the history of electric lighting two rival magneto- electric machines are illuminating the same hall.” I can state an earlier instance, though not an exact parallel. At the annual fair of the American Institute, held in New York’ during September, October, and November, 1878, the main hall was illuminated by the Wallace-Farmer machine and light, and the machinery hall—directly communicating with it, by the Brush apparatus. The two halls form practically one. ALEX. Norwalk, Conn., U.S.A., November 14 Ss. Givson JEAN BAPTISTE ALPHONSE CHEVALLIER Na death is recorded on December 1 of Prof. A. Chevallier, who deserves notice here as one of the Nestors of French pharmaceutical chemistry. He was ——— = wre is ' = Dec..11, 1879] NATURE 133 born at Langues, in Lorraine, July 19, 1793. After completing a.course of scientific study, he opened a pharmacy in Paris, where he soon attracted attention by his talent for investigation, as well as by his ability in - scientific literary work. In 1825 he assumed the editor- ship of the Journal de Chimie médicale, and continued this labour until some years prior to his death, having as associates Payen, Pelouze, Robinet, Orfila, Péligot, Dumas, and other leading chemists of theday. Soon after €ntering upon his career as investigator, his merits were recognised by the government, and he gave up his business connections to accept the Chair of Chemistry at the ole supérieure de Pharmacie, a position which he occupied up to the time of his death. Among Chevallier's earlier researches should be men- tioned his investigations on the absorptive capacities of living plants for various inorganic solutions, and espe- cially his exhaustive studies in connection with Payne, on the hop and the potato, which attracted general attraction. In physiological chemistry notice should be taken of his detection of various poisonous metals, such as lead and copper, in normal organisms. The knowledge of French mineral waters is also greatly indebted to his numerous and exhaustive analyses, and the presence of arsenic in many springs was first signalled by him. The greater portion of Chevallier’s life was devoted to the chemical phases of public hygiene, and in this connection he pub- lished a number of valuable papers on the detection and prevention of adulteration in a large variety of articles of food, methods of preserving food, disinfectants, &c. Of his devotion to the cause of scientific inquiry an interesting anecdote is related from the earlier part of his career. A case of poisoning was to be tried at Paris in which acetate of morphine had been used, and Chevallier, who had sold the salt to the murderer, was summoned as a witness. Anxious to have the full nature of this hitherto untried poison well established, and being limited as to time, he immediately undertook a thorough investigation of its toxic effects on his own system, and succeeded so well that at the trial he was able to give a detailed description of the symptoms attending the use of the drug in question. ; As a scientific writer Chevallier was widely and deservedly known. His first work in 1824, in connection with Payen, “Traité des réactifs chimiques,” reached a third edition in five years. In 1826-29 he published, with Richard and Guillemain, an extensive “ Dictionnaire des Drogues simples et composées,” in five volumes. In 1850 appeared his admirable “ Dictionnaire des Altérations et Falsifications des Substances alimentaires, médicamen- teuses, et commerciales,” which reached a third edition in 1858, and was translated into other languages. Other important works were “Recherches sur les Moyens appliquées 4 la Conservation des Substances alimentaires ” (1858), ‘Du Café, son Histoire, son Usage, etc.” (1862) ; “Traité des Désinfectants sous le Rapport de VHygiéne publique” (1862). TaN. THE SEWAGE OF LONDON ENERAL SCOTT, in his recent paper at the Society of Arts, entitled “ Suggestions for Dealing with the Sewage of London,” deserves credit for having drawn attention to a subject which in itself must have especial interest for all residents in the metropolis, but which, from the manner in which he has dealt with it, possesses further attractions for those who have made the scientific aspects of the sewage question their study, in that he has really attacked this much-debated problem in an entirely new direction, and has in so far entered upon fresh ground. We do not remember that any previous investi- gator has set himself the task of examining into the com- position and character of the suspended matters of water carried sewage coupled with the possibility of the mecha- nical separation by simple subsidence (1) of the heavier mineral particles or the detritus, and (2) of the lighter flocculent particles, which latter, consisting as they do mainly of the fecal matters, possess a far higher manurial value than the heavier substances washed from the roads and pavements. The sludge deposited from sewage by one or the other systems of precipitation has received hitherto: the chief share of attention from scientific men, and even when the possibility of recevering the solid matters in sewage bysome system of straining or rude filtration, or the retention of such solids in tanks, in which the sewage is brought to temporary quiescence, has been considered, it seems on all occasions to have been the practice to regard the entire bulk of such deposits as an inseparable compound of very low value from the manure point of view. It is of course the manurial value of the ingredients contained in suspension and in solution in sewage which has been so frequently inquired into by chemists; and, beginning with the report of Dr. Hofiman and Mr. Witt in 1857, down to that of Messrs. Rawlinson and Read in 1876, a vast mass of valuable information concerning the nature, composition, and value of the manurial elements of town sewage has been accumulated. It has remained for General Scott to point out that— 1. A very large proportion of the solid suspended matters may be removed from sewage by simple sub- sidence. 2. That such matters may roughly be separated, the more valuable from the valueless, by the method in which such subsidence is accomplished. 3. That after such preliminary treatment, any chemical process for the clarification and partial precipitation of the dissolved impurities of sewage may be carried out far more readily, and under conditions rendering their success in an economical point of view one of greatly increased probability. 4. General Scott has indicated various simple methods for dealing with the silt and detritus removed from the sewage at a relatively small expense ; of deodorising and fitting the sludge obtained by subsidence for the manufac- ture of a manure ; and lastly, a mode of further purifying the London sewage by a system of chemical treatment whereby it may be rendered suitable for discharge into a river of large volume. Assuming the dissolved impurities to be incapable of recovery unless the sewage water can be utilised for irri- gation, the first object of General Scott’s paper was to show how large an amount of harm was done to rivers and the dwellers on their banks solely by the solid matters contained in sewage.. By means of extracts from the reports of the various Royal Commissions who have examined into this question, and the information furnished to the Metropolitan Board of Works by their own advisers, Messrs. Bidder, Hawksley, and Bazalgette, he proved that the deposits in the river, the mud banks, the foul emanations from which were most unhealthy, and the dangers to navigation were all due to the discharge of the solid ingredients of raw sewage into rivers and into the Thames. General Scott next entered very minutely into the com- position of the suspended matters of sewage. An estimate of the total weight of solid matters due to a mixed population of 3,500,000 persons, with a proportionate allowance for the fertilisers existing in the excreta of animals, together with the débris of the animal and vegetable substances which might find their way into the sewers, would manifestly represent the sum total of the organic matters in London sewage. Concerning the gross annual amount of organic matters different estimates appear to vary very slightly, and in assuming them in the case of London at 50,000 tons per 134 NATURE [Dec. 11, 1879 annum, there would seem to be but a small margin for error; the quantities of detritus, however, have been very differently stated by the various authorities. From the most reliable analyses of the London sewage, taken at all periods of the day and night, and in many different parts of the metropolis, there appears to be a tolerable unanimity in assigning the ratio of the organic to the mineral ingredient of the suspended matters to be as 1 is to2. After a period of settlement it is found that the proportion is, by the subsidence of the heavier mineral particles, exactly reversed, as the larger portion of these valueless components of sewage impurities rapidly subside, entangling with them about ith of the organic matters in suspension. General Scott proposes, therefore, a double system of tanks. The first set would consist of a series of shallow catch pits, in which the sewage will only be brought to a state of partial repose, and in which it will part with about four-fifths of the solid mineral matters and one-fifth of the organic matter. In the second set of tanks, in which more time will be given for the settlement of the matters in suspension, the sewage will be deprived of nearly all the remaining suspended impurities, namely, one-fifth of the mineral, and four-fifths of the organic matters. If we assume the gross weight of the organic matters at 50,000 tons per annum, the mineral ingredients will, according to the analyses quoted by General Scott, equal 100,000 tons, and the total of 150,000 tons thus obtained, is, in reality, a very low estimate of the amount of the suspended matters in London sewage. These matters, General Scott is of opinion, he could roughly separate in his tanks thus:—In the detritus tanks he would obtain 80,000 tons of mineral matters, together with 10,000 tons of organic matters; in the second set of tanks he would expect to find about 20,000 tons of mineral matters mixed with about 40,coo tons of organic matters. The exact percentage composition of this latter sludge would, he believes, after studying and comparing many analyses and valuations, be somewhat as follows :— Organic matter (without nitrogen) ... 66°50 Nitrogen Ra CEE OR oes SS 3°50 Phosphoric acid 2°80 = tribasic calcic phosphate... 6°07 Potash inca Cee ae et) ahs 25 Sand and inert mineral matter 22°68 100°00 In the debate which took place after the paper, Dr. Frankland, while admitting General Scott’s process to be “worthy of trial,” took exception to this estimate, and maintained that his experience was “ that after the separa- tion of detritus from London sewage, the maximum per- centage of organic matter was 63, whilst the minimum was 21, the average being 39}, and these high percentages were obtained under exceptionally favourable circumstances, because, in the collection of these samples of sewage, little or none of the so-called detritus was mixed with it at all.” He further stated that “he did not think it would be safe to calculate on more than 33 per cent. of organic matter in the dried sludge.’’ This question of the possibility or otherwise of effecting a separation more or less perfect, of the mineral from the organic elements of the sludge lies at the root of General Scott’s proposals, and while giving all due weight to Dr. Frankland’s high authority, we are compelled to admit that General Scott’s figures, many of them based on the analyses of Dr. Frankland himself, seem to point in the opposite direction to that pointed out by Dr. Frankland, as concerns the relative proportion of the mineral and the organic matters after settlement. The question to be decided is, admitting the composi- tion of the sewage solid to be in the first instance 2 mineral to I organic, can we reduce this proportion to 2 organic to 1 mineral, by bringing the sewage to a state of quiescence in tanks? This could be tried on a suffi- ciently large scale to settle the point at issue in a very short time, and as it is a question which to a great extent depends upon the result of actual experiment on a large scale, it is certainly one for the officers of the Metropolitan Board of Works to decide. : Passing over the theoretical values of the deposits, based upon their contents in nitrogen, phosphoric acid, and potash, which General Scott has dealt with very carefully, we come to the question of deodorising the sludge and its preparation as a manure. For the former purpose the employment of slaked lime is advocated, used in the small quantity of only ‘66, or less than 1 per cent. of the total weight of the sludge. This slaked lime, made into milk of lime by the addition of water, is to be thoroughly incorporated with the sewage deposit, and a sufficient amount of crude superphosphate is then to be added, in order nearly, but not quite, to neutralise the lime. A crystalline precipitate of phosphate of lime is thus formed in the sludge, which greatly aids in the drying of the compound, or, to put it more correctly, facilitates the extraction of the water. Some of those who took part in the debate doubted whether General Scott, in his estimate of 20s. per ton on the dried material, which included the cost of chemical treatment, had made a sufficient allow- ance for the great labour and difficulty which would have to be incurred in drying the sludge for use as a manure. Dr. Voelcker, who pointed out that “he had gone very carefully into the figures in the paper, and was very glad to find that General Scott had avoided those exaggera- tions which frequently disfigured calculations of this kind,’’ quoted some observations he had made tending to show that sewage sludge parted with water with extreme difficulty, though he admitted that after treatment with lime and phosphoric acid such sludge would dry with greater rapidity. In the various forms of filter presses now largely used for drying clay slip and expressing pre- cipitates, very great improvements have recently been effected, and it has been stated on good authority that it becomes possible by their use to reduce the moisture in such materials as low as 50 per cent. There still remains, however, a large proportion of water to expel, and, as Dr. Voelcker stated, this can only be accomplished by; means of artificial heat. The question of the cost of drying sludge is one which possesses many features of interest, and the entire subject would be one well worthy of the special consideration of the Society of Arts at their annual conference on the treatment of sewage. We should like to have devoted more time to the calculations of General Scott of the theoretical value of the three chief fertilisers present in sludge, viz., nitrogen, phosphoric acid, and potash, as also to the expense of preparing soluble phosphoric acid, con- cerning which latter point Dr. Voelcker threw out some valuable suggestions during the discussion, but we must now conclude. We entirely agree with General Scott in his denunciation of the folly and imprudence of continuing to cast raw sewage into the Thames; he has certainly pointed out a way of greatly abating the present evil, and as the plan he advocates could be tried upon a sufficient scale at an almost nominal expense, we feel justified in urging with Dr. Frankland that this should be done, and we cordially echo his concluding observation, “that the Board of Works have no right to look for a profit in getting rid of the objectionable matter. If they can suc-— ceed in doing it without a loss or at a cost not greater than that involved in dredging it out of the river again, it ought to be done; because if sewage mud is deposited in the river there must be an obstruction to navigation, besides the putrefaction of organic matters which, when deposited on the banks of a tidal estuary, become very offensive, especially in warm weather.” So far as one can judge from the facts adduced by General Scott, his scheme promises to be more efficient for the ends aimed at than any hitherto proposed, and certainly it seems to us that the great scientific principles Dec..11, 1879 | which are applicable to the subject have been kept well in view. And from our standpoint this must be the test of the efficiency of any scheme for the disposal of sewage. We fear that hitherto those with whom the decision rests as to what scheme shall be adopted for the disposal of the sewage of London have looked upon the question too much as one between rival “schemes,” and considered far too much the supposed interests of rival “ bodies,” and too little the clear teachings of science and the wel- fare of the public. It is evident that for London, at least, the whole subject of the disposal of sewage will have very soon to be reconsidered, and we trust that the authorities concerned will take into their council reputable chemists and physicists, who we are sure, can have no interests more at heart than to see the un- mistakeable teachings of science practically applied to the salvation of society. THE NEW WEALDEN DINOSAUR AE the last meeting of the Geological Society, Mr. J. Whitaker Hulke, F.R.S., brought forward some new facts concerning the remarkable Dinosaur Ovni- thopsis, which cannot fail to interest both geologists and naturalists. In the original collection of Wealden fossils made by Dr. Mantell, and acquired for the British Museum, were two fragmentary bones, the nature of which was somewhat doubtful. Dr. Mantell regarded and figured one of these as a tympanic bone of Jguanodon, at the same time pointing out that it presented some resemblance to a vertebra. Prof. R. Owen adopted Mantell’s views, and figured it as the tympanic bone of /gwanodon, or, perhaps, of Cetiosaurus or Streptospondylus. In 1869 Prof. H. G. Seeley pointed out that the fossil in question was undoubtedly a portion of a vertebra, and one of a new and very remarkable type. It exhibited points of comparison with the vertebra of birds, in the lightness of its construction, and in the existence of great cavities penetrating into the centrum. Hence Prof. Seeley suggested for it the generic name of Ornithopsis. In 1870 Mr. Hulke, who was at that time unaware of Prof. Seeley’s determination of the vertebral character of the British Museum specimens, gave a description of the neural arch of a vertebra which he had discovered in the Wealden of the Isle of Wight. From the beautiful character of the groined entrance to the neural canal, Mr. Hulke was led to suggest the name of ELucamerotus as a provisional one for the new Dinosaurian genus which the specimen evidently represents. He especially pointed out as of great interest the enormous size of these vertebrze, and the fact that they are built up of thin plates of very compact osseous tissue, with immense spaces of cancellous tissue between them. Ata later date Mr. Hulke recognised the identity of his Eucamerotus with the Ornithopsis of Prof. Seeley. In 1876 Prof. Owen again took up the study of the forms in the British Museum. He adopted Prof. Seeley’s and Mr. Hulke’s views as to the vertebral character of the fossils—but he rejected Prof. Seeley’s generic name on the ground that the resemblance between these vertebre and those of birds is merely superficial, and that the name of Ornithopsis is therefore misleading. Prof. Owen described two new forms pre- senting this peculiar structure in the vertebral column, and to these he gave the names of Bothriospondylus and Chondrostosaurus; he insisted that the large cavities seen in the fossil vertebrae were probably originally filled with cartilaginous substance, as is the case in the sharks and rays, and argued, therefore, that any comparison with the vertebra of birds was a misleading one. Mr. Hulke and Prof. Seeley, however, while admitting that the structure does not necessarily imply the powers of flight in the forms possessing it, yet insist that in all probability the cavities in the vertebra were true air-cells, and there- fore that the structure is “bird-like;” on these grounds they maintain that the name of Ovnithopsis ought not to be superseded. In 1877 Prof. Marsh recognised among the numerous Dinosaurian remains obtained from Colorado a number of gigantic forms with vertebre presenting the same peculiarities as are found in Ornithopsis ; to these forms he gave the names A¢/antosaurus, Morosaurus, Apato- saurus, Allosaurus, and Diplocus. Prof. Cope had simultaneously described three other forms—Camara- saurus, Amphicelias, and Epanterias, all presenting the same peculiarities as are found in the English form Ormz- thopsis. One of the American forms, Atlantosaurus had a femur seven feet in length. When the two distinguished American palzontologists visited this country in 1878, they both recognised the specimens of Ornithopsis in Mr. Hulke’s collection as presenting numerous points of resemblance with the) new forms which they had described. Now in the communication which he has recently made to the Geological Society, Mr. Hulke has described ver- tebrze from several parts of the spine of Ornithopsts. This he is enabled to do by the courtesy of the Rev. W. Fox, of Brixton in the Isle of Wight, who has long been such an indefatigable collector of the vertebrate fossils of the Wealden, and has permitted Mr. Hulke to make use of his materials. Mr. Hulke shows that while the dorsal vertebre were closely bound together by processes, so that this part of the spine must have possessed great rigidity, as is the case with birds, the cervical vertebra indicate the existence of the greatest mobility. But the point on which Mr. Hulke principally insists, from its bearing on the discussion which has taken place between himself and Prof. Seeley, on the one hand, and Prof. Owen on the other, is that the cavities and cancellous tissue are confined to the dorsal vertebre, and do not occur in the other portions of the spinal column; this he insists is inexplicable, if, as Prof. Owen insists, the cavi- ties in question had no functional character, but were filled up with cartilaginous tissue, while it finds a ready explanation in the supposition of Prof. Seeley and himself that they are truly pneumatic cavities. Mr. Hulke also points out that there are reasons for believing that some at least of the vertebrz referred to the genus Cefiosaurus belong to the new group of forms to which so much atten- tion has been directed during the last few years. There can be no doubt that there existed during mesozoic times, both in this country and on the American continent, a group of reptiles of gigantic dimensions, which presented such peculiarities of structure, especially in their vertebral column, that they must be placed ina distant sub-order of the Dinxosauria. For this, perhaps the name of Savropoda, suggested by Prof. Marsh, may be adopted. 4 The existence of this bird-like character of pneumatic bones in reptiles of such gigantic dimensions as these peculiar Dinosaurs undoubtedly were is certainly very startling and unexpected. At the same time we believe that neither Prof. Seeley nor Mr. Hulke favours the idea that the forms in question were capable of flight. Mr. Hulke promises shortly to add another to his valuable contributions to our knowledge of these forms by describ- ing the limb-bones of Ornithopsis and its allies, and dis- cussing the habits which a study of their structure seems to indicate. All geologists and naturalists will look forward eagerly for the promised memoir. CASSELL’S MATURAL HISTORY’ oe Sie third volume of this well-illustrated and popular account of the animal kingdom contains descriptions of the Ruminantia by the late lamented A. H. Garrod, t Edited by P. Martin Duncan, M.B. (Lond.), F.R.S., F.G.S. Vel. nie London: Cassell, Perter, and Galpin, 1879.) 136 NATURE [Dec. 11, 1879 _ M.A. ; of the Rodentia by W. S. Dallas ; of the Edentata and Marsupialia by the Editor, and of the first two Orders of Birds by R. Bowdler Sharpe. The ruminating animals are divided into the Bovide, the Cervide, the Tragulidee, and the Tylopodze. A’little more attention to typographical details would have assisted in making this division more clearly perceptible. Thus the first three chapters are headed quite correctly, “ Artiodactyla—Ruminantia; Bovide,” while Chapter IV. is headed “The Cervide,” and Chapter V. has no chief heading at all, although it treats of part of the Cervide, the Tragulidz, and the Tylopodz. Such a want of uni- formity is apt to be a stumbling-block to the student, whose perplexity is no little increased when he finds the same confusion not only in the headings of the chapters, but also in the text itself. Thus, in the chapters on the Edentata the author seems only to have awoke up to the necessity of giving any details of the order as an order, when he had just finished all he had to write about the species contained in the order; and asa consequence, not only is the cart put before the horse, but the account of the order is far too short, and almost nothing is said as to the many anatomical peculiarities characterising it. So much for criticism, which we make in the interests of the work itself, which, if completed as begun, will doubtless form not only a work of useful reference to the general reader, but also will be most useful as an encyclopedia of zoology. Toconstitute it a complete natural history, of course the other kingdoms of nature will have to be also treated of. For the antler-less deer (Tragulide) Mr, Garrod coined the useful word “deerlets.” In respect of their toe-bones they seem to stand intermediate between the swine and the true ruminants. Each foot in the common pig possesses four toes, that corresponding to our thumb in the fore-limb and to our great toe in the hind-limb being absent. The bones of all the toes that are present are quite separate from one another just as in man, but those of the outer and inner digits in each limb are smaller than those which bear the larger hoofs. In the true ruminants, as is well known, these larger toes are partially fused together, the bones of the two central digits forming the “cannon bone,” while the bones of the other toe are reduced to mere splints, or disappear. In the deerlets these bones are not blended at all in the fore-limbs of the water-deerlet of West Africa; in which, as in all the other species, the digits two and five are perfect from end to end. The want of antlers in either sex is another distin- The Lophiomys. guishing peculiarity. We would gladly have had more details given us of this very interesting group, the scientific names of the species of which are in no one instance given. The chapters on the rodents are very well and carefully written, and the classification adopted is that proposed by Mr. Alston. The orderly sequence of the families in this section of the work might be commended as an example, and the scientific names of the species following their English names, in italics, is an immense improve- ment on the plan generally adopted throughout this work, and as a proof that the reader will find in this section new as well as interesting information, we quote the fol- lowing account of perhaps the most remarkable rodent known :— ‘The importance of an animal in the zoological system by no means depends either upon its size or on its abundance in the world; its rank in the classification is decided solely by peculiarities of organisation which dis- tinguish it more or less from its fellows; and in many cases the creatures which are regarded with the most interest by the naturalist are those which seem most to withdraw themselves from general observation. A single genus, perhaps containing only one or two species, may, by a singular combination of characters, be so completely isolated from all the recognised allied groups that it cannot be placed in any of them, and accordingly a distinct family, possibly even an order, has to be estab- lished for its reception. Sometimes subsequent dis- coveries add to the number of species forming the group thus set up, and in this way the prescience of its founder is confirmed. Sometimes the group remains in its original condition, leaving us, according to circumstances, to regard the anomalous creatures of which it is composed either as a special development of their general type, or as the residue of a group which may have presented a greater variety of forms at some past period of the earth’s history. ‘‘ The latter is perhaps the case with the curious little rodent which alone forms the present family, of which its original describer, M. Alphonse Milne-Edwards, writes as follows :—‘In its general aspect it somewhat resembles certain opossums, and like these it is pedimanous (having the hind feet hand-like); but these are the only analogies it presents to the marsupials, and in its dental system, as also in the rest of its organisation, we easily see that it é Dee. Il, 1879] “ NATURE 137 belongs to the order Rodentia. It differs, however, from all the members of this group by characters of consider- able importance; I may even say that, by some pecu- liarities of structure it departs from all other mammals, and_ that we find in it anatomical arrangements of which we have hitherto had examples only in the class. of reptiles.’ After an exhaustive discussion of the cha- racters of this curious little animal, M. Milne-Edwards comes to the conclusion that it is most nearly related to the members of the following family, and especially to the hamsters, although he found it impossible to unite it with them. In this course he has been followed by other writers. _ “The general construction of the skull is the same as in the Muridz, but from the temporal ridges thin plates are developed, which bend downwards, and articulate with similar plates springing from the malar bones, and thus completely arch over the temporal fossz after a fashion only met with in certain reptiles, and especially in the Hawksbill Turtle (Chelone caretta). The whole upper surface of the skull is covered with minute but per- fectly definite granules, arranged with much regularity, and these, which occur in no other mammal, give the skull a very peculiar aspect, such as may be seen in some fishes. As in the Muride, there are three molars on each | side in cach jaw, and these are rooted and strongly tuber- Hoffmann’s Sloth (from lite). cular ; the foremost in each series having three and the others.each two ridges. Without entering in detail into the peculiarities described at great length by M. Milne- | Edwards, we may say that in its general structure, and especially in that of the skeleton, the animal is murine, but with a very important distinction, namely, that the collar-bones, which are well developed in the rats and their allies, are here reduced, as in the hares and rabbits so. as to form only two small bony styles freely suspended among the muscles, and that the first toe in the hind feet, although not very long, is so attached as to be opposite to the rest, thus converting the organ into a prehensile hand which the animal uses freely in climbing. The czecum is small. “In its external characters this animal is as remarkable as in its anatomical structure. In general appearance, as stated by its describer, it has much resemblance to a | small opossum, but the bushy tail and the peculiar | arrangement of the hair on the body are met with in no | marsupials. The head is small; the general form stout ; | the limbs short, and the hind ones not much longer than their fellows; and the ears are of moderate size and sparingly clothed with hair. The prevailing colour is | blackish-brown, but a triangular spot on the forehead, a | 138 streak under each eye, and the tip of the tail, are white ; and the long hairs which clothe the body and tail are dark only in the middle, the base and tip being white, as are also a great quantity of finer and shorter hairs which form a sort of under fur. But the chief peculiarity of the coat is to be found in the arrangement of the hairs of the body. The long hairs of the middle of the back and tail, some of which are nearly three inches in length, are capable of being raised into a nearly upright position, forming a sort of crest which gives the animal a very peculiar aspect, and this crest is separated from the pendulous hair of the flanks by a sort of furrow clothed with very peculiar hair of a greyish-tawny colour. These hairs are unlike any others known to occur among mammals. The apical part is of the ordinary construction; but the following portion down to the base is ‘very rugose, and presents a ‘spongy aspect, due to the interlacing, and, so to speak, felting of a multitude of epidermic filaments emanating from radiate cells, which constitute a perfect network of irregular meshes. Within the sort of sheath thus formed longitudinal filaments which break up into bundles of fibrils are to be seen.’ “Very little is known as to the habitat of this animal, which M. Milne-Edwards has named Lofphiomys imhaus?, the former name referring to the crested character of the back, the second commemorating the person who first brought the creature to the notice of naturalists. M. Imhaus, stopping for a few hours at Aden, on his way home from Réunion, saw a living specimen of this rodent in the possession of a Negro, from whom he boughtit, but could learn nothing as to its origin. He inferred, how- ever, that it had not been brought very far, and that its native country was either Southern Arabia, or some region in Abyssinia, or Nubia, on the other side of the Red Sea. This specimen was brought to France, and lived for about a year and a half in the Garden of Acclimatization in the Bois de Boulogne, where it fed upon maize, vegetables, and bread, slept during the day, and climbed with ease upon chairs and other convenient objects by the aid of its hinder hands. It never took its food in the fore-paws to carry it to the mouth as so many rodents do. When irritated it elevated the crest right down to the end of the tail, and defended itself by biting vigorously.’’ The chapter on the fossil Rodentia contains a large number of facts packed into a small compass ; reference will be found in it to very many of the recent discoveries of rodent remains in the miocene deposits in America, and a detailed account is given of that remarkable fossil form called Alesotherium cristatum, by M. Serres, and for which Mr. Alston has formed a section of the rodents called Hebetidentata from their incisor teeth, which, instead of having the chisel-like edge so characteristic of the incisor teeth of all rodents, are continuously enamelled and are four in number in the lower jaw, and two in the upper. The skull and teeth of this strange form are figured ; as Mr. Alston says, “It appears to have been a survivor, to pliocene times, of a much earlier type, which represented an era at which the Rodents were not yet clearly marked off from theirallies. Infact, Mesotherium seems to continue zz‘o the order Glires, that line of affinity which Prof. Flower has pointed out as extending from the typical Ungulates through Hyracodon, Homa- lodontotherium, Nesodon, and Toxodon.’’ The following is an account of Hoffmann’s sloth (Cholepus Hoffmanni):— “This is a sloth with two clawed fingers on the fore, and with three claws on the hinder extremities. Living * specimens are occasionally brought to Europe, especially from Porto Rico, so that its general appearance may now and then be studied at the Zoological Gardens, in the Regent's Park. If it be looked at there in the day-time, it certainly merits the name of sloth, for it resembles a bundle of long, light, brown hair, fixed on the top of a bar of wood close to an upright branch, or huddled up in NATURE a corner on the ground ; but in the morning, and also late in the evening, the creature begins to move slowly, and to look out for the food put for its use on the floor of the den. All the Hoffmann’s sloths"have pale brown hair, whiter at the tips, and a white face, showing a brown band across the nose, extending to a ring round each eye. They have also a long and full crest of hair on the neck, and the hair on the limbs is darker than that of the rest of the animal. Dr. Peters, who discovered this sloth, examined the skeleton, and found only six vertebrz in the neck, and in this it differs from the Cholepus just noticed. “When its food, consisting of carrots and lettuce, and bread-and-milk, is put down in the morning it is soon in movement, and enjoys its milk hanging down from a bar with its hind legs, and resting its back on the floor of the cage. It seizes the food between the claws and the long straight palm of the fore-foot, and passes it into its mouth, chewing actively with the molar teeth, especially with the first, which are sharp. It cares little for the spectators, and when it has finished, slowly mounts up into a corner of its little den and settles down to sleep. In the evening it becomes lively, for it is, and, indeed, all sloths are, nocturnal] in habit. The hairless snout, of a light red tint, the absence of ‘smellers,’ the little eyes with a few hairs around them, and the broad forehead, give the animal a curious appearance. The hair is brushed back on the forehead, and comes around the very small ears on to the cheeks, and is whitey-brown, and this same tint is seen over the whole of the back in long slender hairs. But the under hair is light red or red-brown. The long and slender hand, with its two claws, contrasts with the rather bulky upper part of the limbs, and the flesh-coloured palms are very remarkable. “The whole of the sloths lead very monotonous lives ; their food is ever within their reach, and it is abundant, and they do not appear to have to compete much or at all in the struggle for existence with other animals. Their enemies are snakes and the carnivora, but it is evident that they are much more readily preserved by their habits from the latter than from the former. Leading such an uneventful existence, there is no great call upon their nervous energies or intelligence, and these are at a low pitch, The brain consequently is very simple in regard to convolutions, which are few in number and shallow.” The portion of this volume devoted to the birds is what might have been expected from so well-known an ornitho- logist as Mr. Sharpe. In the preparation of the chapters on the anatomy of a bird, he acknowledges his obligations to his colleague in the British Museum, Mr. Jeffery Bell, and an excellently well written chapter it is, though it ends alittle abruptly; and the periods of incubation in the case of some of the best known birds might usefully have been added. In the present volume, the two first orders, that of the birds of prey and of the picarian birds, are treated of, and the rest of the orders will probably form volume iv., the publication of which, we trust, will not be long delayed. While aware of the vast multitude of the feathered throng which Mr. Sharpe has to pass under review, might we suggest to him that it is very important that when he gives a paragraph to a sub-family, he might so arrange it as to let the reader discover without difficulty what species quoted really belonged to it? Thus, the arrangement on p. 310 is very perplexing. The sub- family of the cockatoos is of the same value, so far as classification goes, as that of the Amazon parrots or of the Conures, and yet there is no uniformity, so far as typographical details go, to indicate this. If there be a genus Androglossa, it is not alluded to, and for want of quoting, at least one species of the genus Nasiterna in the preceding paragraph, the “it” that was found at Mafoor by von Rosenberg must remain an unknown bird to the reader. There are said to be about [Dec. «1, 1879 i f thirty species of Amazon parrots known ; which, then, is _ “the Amazon parrot” figured? The text is appealed to for an answer in vain. Not two lines are devoted to the _Macaws. The same is very much the case all through: thus, the honey-guide is figured after Keuleman’s sketch ; eleven species are known, but neither is the name given of the species figured, nor is the name given of the species whose habits are described. The common goat-sucker, the whip-poor-will, and the lyre-tailed nightjar, are figured, and yet no scientific names forthem are to be found. No doubt both author and editor will agree with us that the value of this work would be greatly added to if the good example set in this matter by Mr. Dallas were followed. The illustrations are in general very good, but is there not one egg too many in the nest of the edible-nest swift- let? The general get-up of the volume—type, paper, and binding—are all that could be wished, and despite the few things in it which we think might be amended, we most cordially recommend it and its predecessors as very excellent volumes on the natural history of the mammals and birds. PROF, HUXLEY ON TECHNICAL EDUCATION ’-@ the lecture by Prof. Silvanus Thompson, on “ Appren- ticeships,” at the Society of Arts last week, Prof. Huxley was in the Chair, and in inviting discussion on the paper, said he would commence it by making a few remarks himself. He had listened to Prof. Thompson’s paper with gratification, not only on account of the good sense it embodied, but also fora more selfish reason, inasmuch as it entirely accorded with the views which he, coming to the matter from a different side, had himself expressed. Unfortunately he had no personal acquaintance with the ordinary kinds of work in what were called handicrafts, but he ventured some two years ago in that very room to point his remarks with respect to technical education by the knowledge he possessed of medical education. He then expressed a hope that something real and practical would soon be done by the City Guilds, which had done him the honour of consulting him on this subject of technical education, and the advice he gave them was in precise accordance with the principles which Prof. Thompson had laid down that night. Whatever might be the merits or demerits of the old system of appren- ticeship, it was as thoroughly doomed in the different kinds of ordinary handicrafts as it had been long doomed in physic. The only alternatives appeared to him to be of two kinds. In the first place, we ought to bring within the reach of the young people who were em- ployed in our great manufactures the means of carrying on their education in the particular branches of business with which they were respectively occupied beyond the time during which the necessities of practical life obliged them to be at work in the workshop—that is to say, for a period corresponding virtually with what used to be their apprenticeship. One of his suggestions, therefore, was that there should be established in the neighbourhood of the great centres of industry schools to which young boys who are learning certain handicrafts could resort in order to receive instruction which would qualify them to work skilfully and intelligently at their trade. He likewise suggested that the guilds should employ part of their jarge funds in the establishment of a central institution, which should do for the teaching-power of the country that which such institutions as the Ecole des Arts et Métiers in France, and the Polytechnicum at Zurich, did in their respective countries. In England there was not only a total absence of schools to which apprentices could resort, but there were no teachers competent to teach in such schools, even if they were established. He thought that the suggestions he made to the guilds were of a sound and practical nature, and calculated to advance the interests of technical education in this country. He NATURE 139 understood Prof. Thompson to object to the existing elementary training in our Board schools on the ground of its technical nature and of its occupying the minds of the student entirely with book learning and matters which had no sort of bearing on his future life. No one endeavoured more earnestly than he, when he occupied a seat at the School Board, to remedy the evil of the exclu- sively book character of our ordinary school instruction. He did not entertain the slightest doubt that an extension of the Kindergarten system, including the use of tools and the knowledge of elementary machines, was a matter of great importance, but he could not think that the evil of not giving hand-work in the elementary schools was after all very great. Although it was a great thing to make skilled workmen, yet it was much more important to make intelligent men. The four or five years during which children ordinarily remained at school were not too much to devote to even an exclusive study of reading, writing, and arithmetic, and to the acquirement of some intelli- gent knowledge of geography, the elements of history, and the rudiments of physical science. On this point he might observe that no pupil was admitted to the Ecoles d@Apprentis in Paris until he was thirteen years old, or unless he presented his certificate of elementary educa- tion. If we attained one half or a quarter of the good results reached in the Ecoles d’Apprentis, the improvement in the condition of the average British workman would be exceedingly great. In proposing a vote of thanks to Prof. Thompson for his paper, Prof. Huxley expressed his belief that, as far as London was concerned, it would be a scandal and a robbery if a single shilling were asked for out of the general revenues of the country for technical education. The City of London Guilds possessed enormous wealth, which had been left to them for the benefit of the trades they represent. If the people did not insist on the wealth being applied to its proper purpose, they deserved to be taxed down to their shoes. It would be well if those who had charge of these matters in the city of London would understand that they were morally bound to do this work for the country, and he hoped if they continued to neglect the obligation they would be legally compelled to do it. NOTES No more than justice has been done to Sir Joseph Whitworth by granting him a prolongation for five years for his process of manu- facturing fluid-compressed steel. The powerful evidence brought before the Committee of the Privy Council as to the utility of this steel could not be resisted. Mr. James Wright, the Engineer-in- Chief of the Navy, stated that the invention ‘‘has met a want long felt for the principal parts of marine engines which have been subject to failures ;*” from his experience of it he has per- fect trust in it. Mr. Hotchkiss, the patentee of the revolving cannon used bythe French Government, stated that he never had occasion to reject a single dare! of the steel. The evidence from Mr. J. Davidson, of Woolwich, Mr. Purdey, the well- known gun-maker, and others, showed that by getting rid of the air-cells the steel answered perfectly, and is a better metal than had ever been produced by any previous process. Their Lord- ships were satisfied that it would in all probability be highly useful “in carrying out the highest achievements of engineering skill.” Tue long-expected experiments by the 7iunderer Gun Com- mittee commenced on Tuesday at the proof butts on the Government marshes, Woolwich. In connection with these experiments, Sir William Palliser organised, and last week carried out, a successful series of experiments with a doubly- loaded gun, in order to ascertain whether double-loading was ot was not the cause of the bursting of the 7/ hunderer’s gun, Five “140 NATURE [Dec. 11, 1879 ; double charges were fjred, each successive charge being increased in length, No sign gf flaw or damage could be perceived. A similar result: attendgd experiments with an air-space between the powder charge:gnd the base of the projectile. But when shall we have a gutifer like Froude to abolish experiments on the scale of 12 inch a foot? The navy now build a paraffin boat for a few shilf , instead of a real one costing a quarter of a million to expggment with. What will the experiments, including the bursffhg of the gun, cost? If smaller experiments cannot be devised, no one has a right to say that Palliser’s experiments on a smaller scale teach us nothing. WE are glad to see that decisive action has been taken on the side of the United States for the acquisition of the ground in the neighbourhood of Niagara Falls as an International Park, and 50 preserve visitors from the innumerable annoyances to which they are at present subject. At a meeting of the Board of Com- missioners of the New York State Survey, on November 20, Director Gardner, of the Survey, presented conclusions arrived at by the board at its meeting in Niagara last September, illus- trated with maps, diagrams, &c. The plan proposed is to take a strip along the American bank, varying from 100 to 600 feet in width, extending two miles from the new suspension bridge to the head of the rapids, and plant it with trees, to shut out from view the ugly bazaars, manufactories, booths, and hotels which destroy the natural scenery of the banks, The plan also involves the purchase of Goat and Bath Islands, which, the Commission has reason to believe, can be bought, The proposed park will extend to and include Canal Street, in the village, over which the State now has jurisdiction, Director Gardner places the total amount required to secure all the property needed at 800,000 dols. The Commissioners thought the estimate too low. A report recommending that the State shall purchase the property will be prepared by Messrs. Dorsheimer, Stout, and Barnard. It is the unanimous opinion of the Commission that New York should proceed to reclaim her side of Niagara with- out reference to what Canada may do, One map, shown by Director Gardner, indicated that the recession of the Falls since 1842, when a trizonometrical survey was made, has been some- thing over 100 feet. FRENCH meteorologists haye observed a curious analogy between the present season and the severe winter 1788-1789. This winter was observed and described by Cotte, one of the most celebrated French meteorologists. The frosty weather set in on November 25, and ended on January 13. On December 25 intervened a partial thaw. The end of January and February were relatively genial, and the frosty weather again set in on March 4, and kept on up to the end of the month. Frost was so intense that wine was congealed in cellars. The thickness of ice on the Seine was 18 inches, and the breaking of the ice happened only on January 20. Note was carefully taken of the minima observed in a large number of Continental cities. It was observed that the minimum of temperature happened in Germany on December 18, in France on the 31st, and in Russia only on January 5. During frosty weather the wind was almost always blowing from north-east with clear sky. Sometimes it was blowing from south, but then snow was falling, sometimes with great abundance. THE quantity of snow which fell in Paris during the day of December 4 and the ensuing night, according to a calculation made by a member of the Municipal Council, amounts to 245,000,000 cubic feet for the interior of the fortifications. It has been estimated that the expense for removing by handwork and carting this immense quantity of snow, would be about $co0,000 francs, THE dates of the freezing of the Neva have been carefully observed from 1703. It has never frozen sooner than in 180s, on October 16, nor later than in 1740, when it froze on December 28. This year the date is November 1 5; the mean date is November 13, e ¢ SOME curious statistics of gas-lighting in Paris have been published recently, The greatest duration of public lighting is 14h. 3om., and smallest 5h..25m. The cost of gas for public and private establishments is 2,000,000/,, about one pound per head for each inhabitant of Paris, The total consumption of gas is 6,500,000,000 cubic feet. In 1880 the Paris Municipality intends to enlarge its lighting expenses by 16,000/,, and 8,000/, for establishing new gas-lamps. No provision appears to be made for electricity, THE excavations at Olympia under the auspices of the German Goyernment have been resumed this winter with a force of 100 workmen, little misunderstandings which are always sure to arise in the pathway of a man absorbed in one great aim are now forgiven and forgotten. Men remember that it was not for himself but for the cause of science that he solicited and strove. Among the younger men of science the influence of the teaching and example of Agassiz has been profound. It is not that they have adopted his views or even that they have chosen his branch of science. On the contrary many of them have espoused evolutionary doctrines against which he protested, and have taken to sciences remote in subject from his. But he infused into them a genuine love and enthusiasm for scientific progress. By this common sentiment they are united in a bond of sympathy which cannot but be very helpful to their own studies and to the advancement of science. One of the most interesting tokens of this community of feeling is the establishment of a club or society which has no name, no office-bearers, and no laws, but which has for its object the reunion of its members for social intercourse at stated intervals. It began its existence in a meeting of two or three of Agassiz’s students, and now it has drawn into its circle most of the scientific zeal and ability of the younger men of the district. Nor is it wholly confined to the younger generation. At one of the simple but most excellent and jocund dinners of the club the writer of this notice found the genial and universally beloved veteran in botany, Dr. Asa Gray, as well as that long-tried explorer of the deep sea, Count Pourtales. Noramong the benefits bequeathed to Harvard by Agassiz can we forbear an allusion to his son. With enthusiasm not inferior to that of his father and with an ample fortune for the furtherance of his views, the present distinguished keeper of the Museum of Comparative Zoology is gather- ing together at Harvard the most extensive and valuable collection of recent invertebrate zoology in the world, So far as exhibition space will admit, a large and varied series of specimens is displayed. Some departments are marvellously rich. The dredgings by Prof. A. Agassiz and Count Pourtales have supplied a large suite of living corals, some of them undistinguishable from Tertiary Mediterranean species. In one of the rooms is an alto- gether unique collection of crinoids from the Carboni- ferous Limestone of Burlington. A European accustomed to the usually fragmentary condition of palzeozoic echi- nodermata can hardly at first believe that these ex- quisite specimens of many species and genera, with every plate and joint in position, come from so ancient a forma- tion. As at Yale, cellars are crowded with treasures awaiting examination and display. The work-rooms attached to the Museum are likewise full of {material in all stages of investigation, and bearing witness to the amount and value of the original research carried on here by Prof. Agassiz, Count Pourtales, and their assistants. The only regret a visitor can justly express is that the plan of the building has not secured a larger amount of internal light. The windows at the sides form the only entrance for light, and they are not large or numerous enough for the size of the rooms. Would it not be pos- sible, in the contemplated additions to the Museum, so to modify the plan as to secure, at least for the exhibition galleries and floors, some amount of light from the roof? H 150 NATURE [Dec. 18, 1879 Within the walls of the Museum Prof. J. D. Whitney has accommodation for geological work. He is engaged in the completion of the memoirs of his great Californian survey. He has recently issued the first part of an ex- haustive monograph of the auriferous gravels of Califor- nia, which is published in the AZemoirs of the Museum of Comparative Zoology. One of the most generally interesting and important features in this essay is the cautious and masterly way in which the author states the evidence for the existence of human remains in the gravels beneath sheets of basalt, and at a depth of 130 feet from the surface. It is impossible to resist the cogency with which he marshals the facts and maintains the genuineness and high antiquity of the Calaveras skull. The second portion of the memoir, devoted to a discus- sion of the origin of the auriferous gravels and of the glacial phenomena of the Pacific coast and of North America generally, is awaited with much interest. Prof. Whitney, in the course of his prolonged researches in the west, made a large and important collection of rocks. These are now being carefully investigated by his asso- ciate, Dr. M. E., Wadsworth—a young petrographer, who in recently taking the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at Harvard, presented, as his thesis, a remarkable essay on rock classification, largely based on these collections. The Professor, with the devotion to geology which has characterised his long and distinguished career, carries on this work at his own expense. The results will be published in full in the Memoirs of the Museum of Com- parative Zoology. There is much more than the name of Cambridge to remind one of its namesake at home. Its quiet air of studious retirement, its quaint buildings and tree-shaded walks have much of the mother-country about them. One or two features of the place, however, are charac- teristically American. Thus in the great library at Gore Hall, most of the work of receiving and distributing books is done by young women, and done, too, with a noiseless decorum and celerity worthy of all praise. A magnificent Memorial Hall to those graduates of Harvard who fell in the late Civil War bears witness in its crowded lists of names that culture and courage may go hand in hand. The simple eloquence of these lists, where every class and division of the faculties is represented, brings home to the mind in a startling way the terrible realities of a war. May the occasion never arise for another range of tablets either there or here ! While Harvard is necessarily the great centre of scientific research, much admirable work is done in Boston in the way of practically expounding science. The Institute of Technology has for its primary object the education of the community in these branches of scientific knowledge conducive to progress in the arts and industries of life. In pursuance of this aim the methods of tuition are so practical and thorough that the results must be felt far beyond the industrial circles. Established «mainly through the enlightened zeal of the present vener- able President of the National Academy, Prof. W. B. Rogers, it began a few years ago to languish, but its founder has recently come back to its rescue, throwing himself into its affairs with all his old heartiness and kindliness until, freshened and stimulated by his influence, it is once more shooting up into lusty vigour. But besides this establishment, wholly devoted to scientific instruction, the Boston School Board has made the practical teaching of science an important part of education in the public schools. At an early age the pupils are led to take an interest in physiology by references to the experience of their own bodies, and thus the laws of health are firmly lodged in their minds. From simple beginnings they are conducted through successive years of progress and are well grounded in physics, chemistry, botany, and zoology, until before they leave, if they choose to go so far, they are found at work in laboratories repeating experiments, making analyses, or dissecting plants or animals. The thoroughness of the whole system, and the length to which such State-paid education goes (for it must be remembered that all this training is free), would make most members of our School Boards stand aghast, were any utopian to propose its introduction in this country. A student of science from this side of the Atlantic besides finding himself at home among lovers of science in New England is astonished and gratified to find that i¢ he has himself done anything to advance our knowledge of nature, his work is as well known there as at home. The welcome he receives is all the heartier from men who have long known him by name and have come already to regard him as in some measure a personal friend and fellow-worker. A brotherhood of this kind, so cosmopolitan, so genuine, and so kindly, carries with it an enduring helpfulness. One comes away from a par- ticipation in it strengthened and cheered, with wide enlargement of ideas and sympathies that seem to fill the mind with aspirations and to brace the whole frame for endless exertions to achieve them. Undoubtedly, in spite of all that demagogues may declaim, there is in American society of the more cultured kind a deep undercurrent of affection for the old country. It shows itself in many ways and sometimes crops up unconsciously and almost to the confusion of the native-born American as if he would rather be thought indifferent in the matter. The writer is tempted to conclude with an illustrative story told him by a Harvard friend to whom the incident occurred. Some years ago, just at the time that the famous pamphlet, “The Battle of Dorking,” was making a stir in the States as well as here, this friend was in Kentucky with an acquaintance of his who, like so vast a number of his countrymen, had been engaged in the Civil War, and had lost heavily in friends and fortune. This man knew well what were the horrors of war, yet after he had finished reading the pamphlet, and was appealed to by his companion as to what he would do if the picture drawn in its pages were a reality instead of a fiction, he paused and after a little reflection replied, “Well, I thihk I’d have to go for the old country.” There are many thousands of Americans who would have no objections to thrash England themselves, but who would not sit quietly and see the castigation bestowed by any other people. . PLANTE?S “RESEARCHES IN ELECTRICITY” Recherches sur VElectricité. Ke Gaston Planté. (Paris? 1879. GASTON PLANTE has published, under the - above title, the elegant and important electrical researches which he has pursued with so much success ne " ‘i Dec. 18, 1879 | _ during twenty years, acd with many of which the readers of NATURE have been made familiar from time to time, The basis of these experimental researches is the secondary battery, originally devised by Ritter, but which in M. Planté’s hands has become developed into what is practically a new and important source of electricity. M. Planté, by employing for his secondary cells large plates of lead immersed in dilute sulphuric acid, charged by a small Bunsen’s or Grove’s battery, and by arranging the secondary cells in such a manner that they can be charged in multiple arc, and discharged in series, obtains during the ten minutes or so during which the discharge continues currents not only of as great electromotive force as would be obtained from a Grove’s battery of a much larger number of cells, but also of much greater “ quantity ;” the internal resistance of these secondary cells being excessively small, In studying the construction and operation of these secondary batteries, M. Planté has brought to light a large number of interesting facts. He finds that such batteries improve with use, the two lead electrodes gradu- ally becoming spongy, thereby holding in loose combina- tion larger quantities of the oxygen and hydrogen gases, respectively, than new plates of lead, He observes several highly suggestive analogies between this electro-chemical accumulation of the energy of the current, and the electro- static accumulation of the Leyden jar. This analogy ex- tends even to the existence ofa residual charge. It appears that the electromotive force of such a cell well charged may be as high as 2°7187 volts, while the internal resist- ance may be as low as o’05 ohm, and that the actual quantity of the primary current which may be realised after being thus accumulated amounts to &8 per cent. These data are given amongst the stores of information in the first section of M. Planté’s work. The second section treats of the practical uses which have been made by M. Trouvé and others of the currents from secondary batteries, and which embrace a wide range of applica- tions, chief amongst which is the application to surgical] cautery by means of wires raised to a white heat, for which operation a powerful current of short duration only is required. Another suggestion, to employ such batteries as accumulators of the current supplying electric lights - has already been seized upon by more than one inventor, amongst others by Mr. Edison. The third section of the work before us deals with sundry phenomena produced by the discharge of the powerlul currents of large secondary batteries. To obtain these effects M. Planté has used batteries of from 200 to 800 secondary elements. Luminous liquid globules and delicate flame-like aureoles are produced at the surface of liquids when the current is led into them under certain conditions ; even a globule of fused mica has been pro- duced by the current, and wandered about in a manner suggestive of the alleged behaviour of the “‘ balls of fire’’ sometimes accompanying violent thunderstorms. The discharge may even be employed to write upon glass which is etched away under the negative pole of the secondary battery. The many analogies presented by these experiments with some of the less understood of natural phenomena, globular lightning, aurore, and wreathed lightning discharges, &c., are treated in detail in the fourth section. M. Planté considers the “ Fire of NATURE 151 Saint Elmo”’ to be a phenomenon of discharge of nega- tive electricity, whilst he compares the globular lightning to the phenomena observed in the discharges at the posi- tive pole of his batteries. One of the most curious of his speculations is that concerning the spiral nebulz, which he compares with the spiral forms produced at the nega- tive pole when dilute acid is electrolysed by a moderately strong current between copper electrodes in the presence of a powerful electromagnet. These “ electrodynamic”’ spirals consist of streams of particles of oxide of copper whirled off from the end of the electrode and which, con- ducting the current, undergo a rotatory displacement under the influence of the neighbouring magnet. These spirals, which therefore indicate the lines of flow of the current, resemble the spirals obtained by the present writer in iron filings under the joint influence of a magnet and a current traversing it longitudinally, and which differed from those of M. Planté in indicating lines of magnetic induction, not lines of current flow. So strongly does the analogy of form weigh with M. Planté that he asks (p. 243) whether the nucleus of a spiral nebula is not truly an “ electric focus,’’ and “whether the spiral form is not probably determined by the presence in the neigh- bourhood of strongly magnetised heavenly bodies !’’ Another astronomical analogy is discovered by the author between the sun-spots and certain “ crateriform perfora- tions’? which are produced in moistened paper beneath the positive pole of the secondary battery. The fifth, and last part of the work, explains the con- struction and operation of the author’s ‘ rheostatic machine,’’ which is a series of mica condensers which are charged in multiple arc from a battery of 600 or 800 secondary elements, and discharged in series in very rapid succession. This instrument is capable of pro- ducing almost continuously the effects of intense dis- charges of statical electricity, and promises to prove of great utility as an instrument of research. We have preferred to give the reader a brief résumé of the contents of this delightful narrative of researches, rather than to criticise in detail the many salient points which it presents. Experimental researches of the present day are seldom conducted with such patient and ingenious endeavour as those now published in M. Planté’s volume. The student of electrical theory will find in them but little that he did not know before. The phenomenal not the theoretical aspect of the question is ever uppermost; and in default of theory there is a tendency to ride ¢he analogies too hard. But none can help admiring the beauty and originality of the experiments here recorded, nor doubt the very high value of the results obtained. There will, too, be many readers who will long that all treatises on experimental science were written in so clear, concise, and elegant a style as that of the author. SILVANUS P. THOMPSON NATURAL HISTORY OF THE ANCIENTS Gleanings from the Natural History of the Ancients. By the Rev. W. Houghton, M.A., F.L.S. _ Illustrated. (London: Cassell, Petter, and Galpin, 1880, ) Che interesting volume consists of a series of short lectures treating of most of the animals known to the early inhabitants of Egypt, Palestine, Assyria, Greece, 152 and Rome, from the oldest historic period down to about the middle of the third century of the Christian era, Referring to his sources of information the author ex- presses his acknowledgments to the Biblical and Assyrian records and the classical writers of Greece and Rome. Alluding to Aristotle’s work, “The History of Animals,” he quotes Lewes’s well-known remarks thereon, which, while he will not fully endorse, he yet on the whole agrees with. The author warns the reader not to expect an ex- haustive treatise on the subject; the avowed object, as the title indicates, being but gleanings picked up almost at random from a spacious field; indeed, a volume quite as large might be written on only those domestic animals known to the ancients. If not a complete history, these “ Gleanings” are, however, very pleasant reading, deeply interesting to the intelligent student, and making him wish for more. In some cases a little more information would be useful, and we would venture to suggest to the author that in another edition he might with advantage add more details about the very early history of some of the best known of the animals which he has selected for notice. Thus the Egyptians were the only people amongst the ancients who habitually domesticated the common cat; with them it was a great favourite, and we would certainly have liked a little more of what the author could have told us about the cat as it is found in an Egyptian home ; had it a pet name there ? and is it not strange that the children of Israel do not seem to have come across it during their lengthened sojourn in that strange land? In another edition the references should be quoted at greater Jength ; thus the general reader could scarcely be expected to know that the translation of Prof. Gubernati’s interesting work on “Zoological Mythology”’ is referred to as “ Guber. Zool. Myth.’’ The Egyptian dog is acknowledged by the author not to come up to the standard of modern European views of canine beauty ; but he is not so severe on them as Mr. Mahafiy, in whose eyes the house-dogs appear to have been worthless curs, and tke hunting-dogs more like those lanky creatures kept by some of the Irish peasantry for an occasional Sunday coursing match (Mahaffy, *“Prolegomena of Ancient History’’). The author states that the Egyptian monuments anterior to the date of Amosis (about B.C. 1500), of the eighteenth dynasty, give no representation of horses, but considers it would not be safe to conclude from negative evidence that the horse was not introduced into Egypt anterior to that date. Leaving the date of the papyrus Sallier to be settled by experts, but presuming it from Mr. Goodwin's Essay (“Cambridge Essays,” 1858) to relate to events about the time of the Exodus, we find such allusions as “ The horses of my lord are well,’ and “His ploughshare, which is of metal, corrodes, the horses die through the labour of ploughing;’’ the latter is very remarkable for being part of the complaint of an agricultural tenant; these would show that at this date—possibly the date of .the years of famine—horses, were then employed in field work, The common pig formed part of the farmyard stock of the Egyptians, and the author thinks that they were kept as probably useful in treading in the corn after it was sown, and he quotes Herodotus and A®lian as describing the process ; neither author says anything about the pigs NATURE [ Dec. 18, 1879 being muzzled when performing this useful part, but they are shown as such on a Theban sculpture referred to. The section about the pigeons might be greatly ex- panded ; there is next to nothing told us about the pigeon as known to the Egyptians and Hebrews, and though there is a woodcut from an Assyrian sculpture showing hare and birds, yet there is not a word in the text as to the hare being known to the Hebrews and Assyrians. The second part of the volume on wild animals is nearly equally interesting as the first. In it we read of the lion, hyena, stag, wild bulls, boar, vulture, pelican, ostrich, and many other birds, as well as of several species of fish, known in the olden times. OUR BOOK SHELF Bulletin des Sciences Mathématigues et Astronomiques. Deuxiéme serie, tome iii., avril 1879. (Paris.) THIS number opens with abstracts of works by H. Lemonnier (“ Mémoire sur Elimination,” Paris, 1879) ; E. Schering (“ Analytische Théorie der Determinanten,”’ Gottingen, 1877) ; and an interesting note by S. Kantor (Quelques Théorémes nouveaux sur l Hypocycloide 4 trois Rebroussements’’). Our present object’is, however, to take notice of two long articles by M. G. Darboux, (a) “Sur un nouvel Appareil 4 Ligne droite de M. Hart” (7 pp.) (8) “ Recherches sur un Systéme articulé’”’ (42 pp.). (a) is founded on a five-bar linkwork, described by Mr. Hart in the eighth volume of the Proceedings of the London Mathematical Society (p. 288), which M. Darboux looks upon as a construction of great interest. The writer explains Mr, Hart’s method and slightly generalises it, getting the following results : (1) an ellipse and Pascal’s limagon can also be described by the linkwork; (2) a movement of a straight line which always remains horizontal whilst its several points describe vertical straight lines. By means of a duplication of the appa- ratus, “‘on pourra poser une table sur ces droites, et l’on aura ainsi la disposition la plus simple connue, per- mettant de réaliser un mouvement paralléle dont les applications sont évidemment trés-variées.”’ i (8) is a discussion of Mr. Kempe’s “recherches trés- interessantes” “ On Conjugate Fourpiece Linkages”’ in the ninth volume of the Proceedings of the same Society (pp. 133-147). M. Darboux remarks that Mr. Kempe has considered one interesting case only, that, viz., “ou les équations sont des identités et ot par conséquent la déformation de la figure est possible.’’ He praises the ingenuity of the method employed, and says that Mr. Kempe has arrived at a large number of solutions of a problem which, @ Zrzor7, would be thought to have none. He then proceeds to attack the question ina more general manner, connecting the problem with the use of Mr. Hart’s apparatus, referred to in his paper (a). “La marche qui j’ai adoptée repose d’une part sur l'emploi des grandeurs géométrigues dans le plan et sur leur expres- sion bien connue au moyen d'une variable complexe, et d’autre part sur les recherches que j’ai publi¢es récem- ment! et d’aprés lesquelles la théorie du quadrilatére articulé est identique & celle d’une cubique plane, que jappellerai cubigue associée au guadrilatéere.” : Denoting the outer quadrilateral of Mr. Kempe’s figure by AZ NPQ, and the inner by JZ’ N’ P’'O, M. Darboux calls them respectively the quadrilaterals 7, U, and the associated cubics he calls the cubics 7, UV, and taking 7,7, ¢’, 2”, 2,2’, 2", 2" as the co-ordinates of a point in space with reference to the two cubics, he finds the conditions that a certain group (4) of equations between these co-ordinates shall be satisfied by an infinite number of values of the ¢’s and w’s. He regards these equations, when the movement of the figure is possible, as establish- xP, rog of the Bulletin for March, 1879. i, Dee. 18, 1879] ing a correspondence between the # points of the cubic 7 associated with the quadrilateral 7, and the similarly determined point, and proceeds to examine all the cases in which this correspondence is uniform, 7.2., when to a point of each curve corresponds a single point of the other curve. He then shows that all other cases may be reduced to this case of uniform correspondence. His conclusion, after a discussion of these equations of condition, is that there are no other solutions besides those deduced from the uniform correspondence cases. He establishes coinci- dences with most of the cases discussed in Mr. Kempe’s paper, and arrives at one new case, viz., when Mr. Kempe'’s triangles reduce to straight lines coinciding with the sides respectively of Zand U. Our object has been to draw attention to what we look upon as a valuable pendant to the last-named gentle- man’s Researches in Linkworks. Lecture Notes on Physics. By C. Bird, B.A., F.R.A.S° (London: Simpkin, Marshall, and Co., 1880.) THE author says in his preface that the book ‘“‘ may be supposed to represent the notes, somewhat expanded, which the teacher would desire the class to take down and learn.” If so, the “notes’’ before us would certainly merit a good deal of attention from the teacher’s red-ink pen. Of its 178 pages, 68 are taken up with examination papers of the Science and Art Department. The various branches of physics are very unequally treated. Occa- sional blunders are frequent. Thus on p, 27 we are told that “Writing 7 for the refractive index, the critical angle for any medium is = On p. 2 Laplace’s correc- tion of the velocity of sound for the adiabatic conditions is stated to be the ratio of the two specific heats of air, when it should be the square root of that ratio. On the very next page we are told that the amplitude of a sound- wave varies inversely as the sgvare of the distance from the source, and that ¢herefore the intensity falls off in the same ratio; whereas in fact the intensity is proportional to the ‘square of the amplitude. Under the heading “ Electrometers’’ we observe that the only instruments named are the quadrant pith-ball electroscope, the torsion balance (which is not even described), and the unit-jar! But one could hardly expect accuracy of an author who allows himself to talk about “force’’ being “ converted into heat.” Diagrams of Zoology. Sheet I. and II., with handbooks thereto. By Dr. Andrew Wilson. (Edinburgh and London: W, and A. K. Johnston.) THESE sheets are meant to serve as important adjuncts in the way of illustrating a series of lectures on the classes to be met with in the animal kingdom, They have been drawn and coloured under the direct superin- tendence of Dr. A. Wilson, and are accompanied by a handbook to each sheet which contains full descriptions of each figure. They will no doubt be found most useful for the purposes of science classes in our public schools, and in them illustrations of recently described forms will be found. For example, under the kingdom of the rotozoa, we find no less than five figures representing that ow form of animal life called by Heckel Protomyxa aurantiacea, one of the Monera. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR {The Editor does not hold himself responsible for opinions expressed by his correspondents. Neither can he undertake to return, or to correspond with the writers of, rejected manuscripts. No notice is taken of anonymous communications. [The Editor urgently requests correspondents to keep their letters as short as possible. The pressure on his space is so great that it ts impossible otherwise to ensure the appearance even of com- munications containing interesting and novel facts.] The Exploration of Socotra WouLp you allow me, ‘on behalf of the Committee of the British Association for the Advancement of Science for the Ex- NATURE 153 ploration of Socotra, to state in your columns that we are anxious to find a competent naturalist to proceed to Socotra early - next year, the gentleman whose services we had hoped to secure being unfortunately unable to undertake the task, The expedi- tion will be but a short one, as it would be useless to remain in the island after April. ; It would be desirable that the explorer should have some acquaintance with Arabic and some local knowledge of the sur- rounding districts. P, L. SCLATER 11, Hanover Square, W. Monkeys in the West Indies IN reply to the inquiries of Mr, Watt (NATURE, vol. xxi. p. 132), I send you the following extract from the Proceedings of this Society for February 13, 1866. ‘*Mr. Sclater called the attention of the meeting to three monkeys recently received from the Island of St. Kitts, West Indies. Mr, Edward Greey, Fellow of the Society, having reported the existence of monkeys in a wild state in considerable numbers upon this island, had been urged by Mr. Sclater to attempt to obtain some specimens, in order that it might be ascertained to what species they were referable, as it had always been believed that there were no native Quadrumana in the Lesser Antilles. Through the assistance of Mr. John Carden, of St. Kitts, Mr. Greey had succeeded in obtaining a specimen of this monkey, and two others from the same island had at the same time been presented to the Society by Mr. H. B. Cameron, Superintendent of the R.W.I.M.S.P. Company, at St. Thomas’s. The animals were undoubtedly referable to the common green monkey (Cercopithecus callitrichus, Geofir.) of Western Africa, and must have been introduced years ago, as they were stated to be now very abundant in the woods of St. Kitts, and to cause great damage to the sugar-plantations.” As regards Trinidad, where true American monkeys (Cebida) are certainly found, it should be recollected that, zoologically speaking, Trinidad is not one of the Antilles, but a little bit of Venezuela, broken off at no very remote period. Prof, Mivart and Mr. Bates are, therefore, correct in saying there are no indigenous monkeys in the Antilles. P. L. SCLATER Zoological Society of London, 11, Hanover Square, W. Is Mount Unzen a Volcano? In a recent visit to the Simabara Peninsula, about twenty miles east of Nagasaki as the crow flies, an opportunity was afforded me of ascending ‘‘Unzen,” a mountain which rises about 4,700 feet above the sea (by aneroid). If tradition is to be believed ‘‘ Unzen” is an active volcano, the subterranean fires of which have been slumbering since the close of last century, when a disastrous earthquake, accompanied by a volcanic erup- tion, destroyed 53,000 of the inhabitants of the district, But I failed to find any trace of a recent volcano, which, wherever it may be, is certainly not situated in the higher peaks of the mountain, where popular belief has located it. From the sea- level up to the highest summit a porphyry is the ever-prevailing rock, which varies somewhat in different parts of the peninsula, True it is that from many points of view Unzen has somewhat the form of a truncated cone, but there the resemblance ends, There are, however, three hot sulphur springs, which may help to explain the popular error on the subject. One of them is situated in the fishing village of Wobama, at the foot of the mountain, and close to the water; a strong odour of sulphuretted hydrogen scents the air, and the thermometer placed in the water rose to 112° F. Rather more than 2,000 feet above the sea are the hot springs of Kojeego and Unzen. In the former place the water bubbles up into a pool some ten or fifteen yards across, with a temperature of 182°, while at Unzen the hot springs are on a far more extensive scale, numerous springs bubbling away furiously over an area of several acres, which is completely destitute of vegetation, The ground is often so hot that with a thick pair of boots one cannot stand long on the same spot. The thermometer rose as high as 202°, which would be only about 6° below the boiling-point of water at that eleva- tion, and a dense cloud of white smoke ascended into the air which was strongly impregnated with the same sulphureous odour. The chemical and thermal influences of these hot sulphur springs have produced a singular effect on the porphyry of the immediate 154 NATURE locality ; while the rock has a tendency to lamination, its disin- tegrated felspathic constituents whiten the whole surface, and the neighbouring hill-slopes overlooking the springs are as white as any chalk-cliffs from the same cause. This phenomenon is only to be found in the immediate vicinity of the hot springs, It is with the hope that these few notes may be the means of eliciting further particulars, especially as regards the history of this so-called volcano of Unzen, that I venture to send them to NATURE. H. B. Guppy, H.M.S. Hornet, Nagasaki, Surgeon H.M.S. Hornet October 13 Astronomical Subject-Index I AM preparing for publication, by the Royal Dublin Society, a review of the progress of astronomy during the present year, consisting of a classified index catalogue of books, memoirs, and notes on astronomical subjects published since the beginning of the year, and, secondly, of a short account of the contents of the more important papers in the various branches of astronomy, Any person who has felt the want of such a ‘‘ subject index” could assist materially in the undertaking by sending me, as soon as possible, the titles of such papers as seem likely to be overlooked on account of having been published in less widely- diffused periodicals or transactions. In particular I would be glad to hear of papers published quite recently in transactions or proceedings of learned societies, as these often are not dis- tributed until some time after their publication. J. L. E. DREYER The Observatory, Dunsink, Co. Dublin, December 11 Distinguishing Lights for Lighthouses A propos of your article on Sir William Thomson’s letter in the 7imes, and the dangers to ships from bad systems of dis- tinguishing the lights of different lighthouses, I send you the accompanying graphic account by my brother, Mr. J. P. Thomp- son, of a narrow escape from shipwreck which occurred to him during the autumn of the present year, and which illustrates the urgent need for reform in the adopted system. SILvANuUS P, THOMPSON ** All went well till off Ushant, when the wind began to rise, and by Saturday afternoon the Channel was heaved up by what was logged as a ‘moderate gale’ from the south-west. This kept freshening every hour, and at 7 p.M., when the lamps were being lit, the captain said we should have a very ‘dirty night,’ and he accordingly donned his oilskins and ‘sou’-wester.’ The atmosphere began rapidly to cloud, and at 9 o’clock you couldn’t see more than a ship’s length or two ahead, As we were in a crowded track of vessels, the watch look-out was doubled. .. . At 11 I was on deck again, and found all looking out eagerly for either the St. Agnes (Scilly) or the Wolf Light, the latter being near the Cornish coast. Of these lights the St. Agnes shows a white light at each revolution of a minute, whilst the Wolf is the same, but with a flash of red between. The sea was very phosphorescent, and this dazzled the eye when looking for lights. I was set as a look-out on the starboard quarter, and many times had to go aft for the captain to see how she lay by the compass abaft (she was being steered at the wheel in an iron wheel-house on the bridge.) . . . About midnight we sighted a light, and on timing it, found it to be a white light of a minute’s revolution; we looked in vain for a red flash between the whites, as we knew we ought to be near the Wolf. But in the fog not a ‘smell of red’ could be discerned, although by the rate at which we passed it we must have been very near it. Supposing, then, that there was no red flash, this must be the Scilly light, and the captain accordingly steered more easterly, so as to fetch the Wolf. He nevertheless hardly thought we had got so far to the west as the Scilly, so he ordered a sharp look-out to be kept for breakers or land. At 3.30 I turned in again, but at 4 A.M. I suddenly heard the look- out cry out ‘Land! breakers ahead!’ and then I heard the captain run to the telegraph, and heard the bell ring in the engine-room, and the captain’s sonorous voice calling ‘All hands! square away the yards! "bout ship!’ I jumped up, and ran on deck, and there right ahead the fog had just lifted to show us we were almost ashore, heading straight on Penzance; so near, indeed, were we that I could have easily counted the houses. Happily the ship, answering her helm well, came round beautifully, and at the same time the fog closed again, hiding te ao — a [Dee. 18, 1879 the shore and the dreaded rocks. So after all it was the Wolf light we had sighted, but the fog had prevented us from seeing the ved flash, Tt was a narrow escape, thouglv; and then we had to beat back in the teeth of the gale, and it took us six hours to beat back to the Land's End.” j The First ‘‘ Sin” Ir occurred to me lately, whilst reading in the September number of the Contemporary Review, an article by Lenormand called ‘‘ The First Sin,” that it may be possible to turn another page of that very interesting history of ideas, the reading of which appears to be one of the great tasks allotted to this century. Although it seems unlikely that the idea suggested to me by the article has not also occurred to others, I cannot discover that anything has been said about it, for the author seems strangely enough to lead one to the door, as it were, and leave one there without opening it; I should therefore like, if you will permit me, to lay it before your readers, and hear what they have to say about it. My idea is this: that the trad tion of a tree of life, and also of a tree of the knowledge of good and evil, both connected with a sin and a catastrophe, probably originated in man’s first acquaintance with the effects of intoxication. Lenormand himself connects that tradition with the worship of Bacchus (and also with the theft of fire in a piece of a tree by Prometheus, and with that of the apples of the Garden of the Hesperides). It seems strange, therefore, that he goes no farther, more especially as he himself points out that the re- presentations of the tree on the monuments of different nations are always referable to those from the fruit or foliage or crushed branches of which an intoxicating liquor is derived; from the Soma tree, that is, and the palm and the vine. There is no need to burden your pages with proofs and quota- tions, as any one interested in the subject can procure the maga- zine now at half price; I will merely add to my suggestion that, as the primitive notion of life must have been characterised by warmth and motion, and the first effects of the fruit of the tree would also be, probably, warmth and excitement, exhilaration and the temporary exaltation of some of the faculties, it would easily come to be looked upon as a “‘ tree of life;” and that, the after-effects being bad and degrading, it would thereby become a tree of the knowledge of evil as well as good, and-also the cause of a fall into a lower state of being. ° May I add a suggestion concerning the serpent always con- nected with the tree, as on the early Babylonian cylinder figured on p. 91 of George Smith’s ‘‘ Chaldean Account of Genesis”? It appears to have represented the principle of evil very early, probably long before it was connected with the tree, and to have been at first the sea, which in a storm was the chaos out of which everything was formed, and which, as it seemed to swallow up sun, moon, and stars, and to bring forth the storm-clouds— those monsters with which the sun-god fought with his arrows the lightnings—came also, not unnaturally to represent the destructive principle. But how did it become a serpent? May it not have been the singular resemblance that the edge of the sea—as seen from a moderate height in a calm—bears to a huge serpent—now blue, now white, according to the amount of foam —winding and writhing about the earth, and eating out its rocks and shores, that caused its destructive attributes to be transferred to the serpent? A common name may have been the means. The resemblance is especially striking when the eye looks along the shore, as in the bend of a bay. Another suggestion. Some years ago, when reading the description of the locality of the Battle of Beth Horon in Dean Stanley’s work on Palestine, it seemed to me to point to the origin of the tradition of the sun and moon standing still at the command of Joshua, and I do not think it has been noticed. In any valley lying north and south, if one goes up the western hills as the sun sets to the valley, when one reaches the summit the effect of a new day and a fresh supply of sunlight is very striking, This sensation must have been strongly felt by the warriors of Israel, when, after pursuing their enemies up the pass, the still sunlighted valley beyond broke upon their sight ; and I cannot but think that, figuratively expressed, as it would be, and with much exaggeration, in the triumphal song sure to have been made and sung after the victory, it may well have originated the tradition of a standing still of the sun ; the moon would follow suit. The songs are said to be the oldest parts of the Bible, and ‘‘ Jasher” or ‘* The Upright” may have been the singer or recorder of the lost song of triumph, j. Dec. 18, 1879] NATURE 155 The “Encyclopedia Britannica ”—The Nile THE volume of the Nile is made a thousand times greater than the truth in the new “Encyclopedia,” vol. vii. p. 706, art, Egypt, by an error copied from the last edition. The same mistake occurs in Rawlinson’s ‘‘ Herodotus,” vol. ii. p. 7, Note GW. ; in the Geographical Society’s Yournal, vol. xix. ; in Fullarton’s Gazetteer, and probably elsewhere, and some fables have been founded on it. I observed the error myself some years ago, after being per- plexed by it in some rainfall estimates, and mentioned it to the late Sir Gardner Wilkinson, who intended to have it corrected ; but there has been no fresh edition of the “ Herodotus,” and it has escaped revision in the ‘‘ Encyclopedia.” As it illustrates a special danger, easily overlooked, in copying French figures, it deserves perhaps a few lines in NATURE to put it right. In English notation we mark decimals with a point, and use commas to divide periods ; but the French generally use commas to mark off decimals. The authority for the volume of the Nile is Linant’s measurement, given by Clot Bey in the ‘‘ Apercu général sur l’Egypte,” tome i., pp. 40, 41, and the figures are given as follows, in cubic metres of water discharged into the Mediterranean at full flood in twenty-four hours :— English authorities .. ... 705,514,667,440 SHEER an csi) can’) ost) ses. van JOR 5X4) 667 400 The last three figures are decimals, and the quantity is in millions, not in thousand millions, ALBERT J. Mott December 14 Lunar Rings ™ AccoRDING to your suggestion I have followed up my experi- ments with lunar light on bromo-gelatine plates, and at midnight on November 28, for the third time at full moon period I obtained on one plate three well-defined rings round the photo- graphic image of the moon with 1 minute, 14 minute, and 2 minutes’ exposure, The 1 minute exposure is fainter than the above woodcut, the 14 minute}the same in density, and the 2 minutes’ exposure is denser and more defined ; while six consecutive nightly observa- tions previous to the 28th failed to give any vinculum or indica- tion of refraction of light. One of the six taken on the night of November 24 with /wo hours continuous exposure gave a bright clean well-defined line 2} inches long, gapped here and there by passing clouds, but not the slightest indication of blurr or dispersion was shown on the brightest parts of the line. Whether the cause which produces these rings at full moon phase only, depends upon the greater effulgence of lunar reflection at that particular time ; whether it is cosmical or atmospheric in its nature, or optical or chemical, there can be no doubt that there is refraction of the lunar light ; the existence of a dark space between two luminous (or more correctly speaking actinised regions) as manifested by the above annular geriodica/ impressions is a clear indication of the dispersion of light, but how, why, or where the decomposition takes place is not so obyious. Sunderland, December 5 GEORGE BERWICK Stag’s Horns Ir is well known to be the universal belief in the Highlands that stags eat the horns they shed, and every gillie will tell you that no one ever picked up a horn, Can any of your readers inform me what really becomes of them? There must be abundant opportunities of observing the whole process in places like Windsor Park, where red deer are kept in a domesticated state. Gar pede ON A NEW COPYING PROCESS if VERY elegant process has recently been introduced into this country for copying and multiplying letters and documents. Itis known by various names, according to the etymological skill of the makers. One calls it a “hektograph,” another less pardonably calls it the “cento- graph,” while yet another, to bridge the gap between ancient Greek and modern English, styles it the “ printo- graph.” But whether it is introduced by these names, or the polygraph, the compo-lithograph, or the velocograph, the principle is the same; though the details are slightly varied in each case. A slab of gelatinous material in a shallow tin tray forms the type. The letter is written with a special ink on any kind of paper, and when dry is placed face downwards upon the jelly, and allowed to remain a minute or more. On removal it is found that the greater part of the ink has been left behind on the jelly. It is only necessary to place pieces of paper on the latter, and on their removal they are found to be perfect fac similes of the original copy. The number of copies obtainable varies with the ink, the most potent being aniline violet, such as Poirrier’s. With this a hundred copies may be produced. Others, such as Bleu de Lyon, Bismarck brown, or Roseine,? yield forty to fifty. It was with a view to determine the principles which govern this beautiful process, that I made an examination of the subject. The slab consists of gelatin and glycerine, with carbolic or salicylic acid to prevent fungoid growth, and in the “chromograph” a quantity of barium sulphate is added, which gives the slab a white, enamel-like appearance, If a hot, strong solution of gelatin in water be prepared,* and then a certain quantity of glycerine stirred in, the whole mass will become solid in cooling. This might at first sight appear to be a solution of gelatin in water and glycerine ; but such is not the case, the gelatin being quite insoluble in glycerine. When the aqueous solution solidifies, the gelatin still retains the water, but the large quantity of glycerine being dispersed through the mass, makes the whole into what is practically a very fine gelatin sponge containing glycerine in its pores. The moisture-loving nature of the glycerine prevents the “sponge” from getting dry, while the insolubility of the gelatin in the glycerine prevents its becoming liquid. When the copy is placed on the jelly, the glycerine comes out to meet the ink, for which it has an intense liking. All the suitable inks are freely soluble in glycerine, Some, too, contain acetic acid either in the free state or in com- bination with bases as in rosaniline acetate. The acetic acid exerts a solvent action on the gelatin, so that it will be found that after taking off some impressions with an acetic acid ink, as the “ multiplex,’’ the jelly will be etched wherever the ink has come into contact with it. As long as any of the ink remains on the jelly, the glycerine will come out of the pores to keep it moist, but when the whole of the ink has been removed the flow of glycerine ceases, and the parts become quite dry. If the ink is not entirely removed by taking a sufficient number of impressions, and the jelly left, after a lapse of twenty- four hours the remaining ink will be absorbed by the jelly. It is necessary, therefore, that the copies should be taken off as soon as possible, so as to avoid the defect caused by the spreading of the ink. Most of the makers suggest, that directly the slab is done with, the type should be washed off. The hekto- graph and most others require that the water should be warm, but the finely divided barium sulphate in the chromograph, renders the surface less tenacious, and the impression may be removed with cold water. Where practicable, it is better in all cases to leave the slab for twenty-four hours, when the old impression will be quite absorbed, and not interfere with a new one, This gelatin copying process has been received with so I A very petent and easily prepared ink which will yield a hundred copies, may be made by dissolving rosanil.ne in a cc ld-saturated solution of oxalic acid. It must be allowed to dry spontancously. ; ; 3 4 cz, gelatin dissolved in 6 cz. water, and 20. 07. glycerine, sp. gr. 1°26, reviously warmed, stirred in. Any air bubbles in the gelatin are rem oved et the addition of the glycerine. A cheaper com ound which answers equally well, but is rather darker, ccnsists of Scotch glue 6 oz., water8 oz., glycerine 200z. These quantities make a slab 10 X 13 X }. 156 NATURE [ Dec. 18, 187g much favour by the public, that it shows there is a great want for some rapid means of getting a limited number of copies of letters, &c.; and seeing that any number of colours may be used in the original drawing, Mr. Norman Lockyer has suggested that it would be of much use in laboratories, for the multiplication of original sketches of biological specimens, and even for spectra charts, and so save much of the time spent in making duplicate copies. The gelatin slab cannot be said to be perfect, as it is liable to be affected by atmospheric changes; but, bearing in mind the fact that the whole is simply a sponge filled with a compound capable of liquefying certain inks, it is reasonable to hope and expect that chromography is only the pioneer of a process, which shall possess all its advan- tages and none of its defects. R. H. Ripout THE ANIMAL HEAT OF FISHES JHE belief that fishes are cold-blooded, that is, that they take on the temperature of the water which surrounds them, with no power to resist it, and that they develop little or no animal heat themselves, is still held by many even scientific observers, This belief is based partly upon the well-authenticated fact that fishes have been frozen and thawed again into life; partly upon the statements of many travellers who have found them living in water of a very high temperature (Humboldt and Bonpland recording the highest, 210° F.); and further, that a thermometer inserted into the rectum of some living fish freshly drawn from the water has been repeatedly found to indicate temperature corresponding very closely to that of the water itself. During the past summer, and in connection with the operations of the U.S. Fish Coinmission at Provincetown, Mass.,, Surgeon J. H. Kidder, of the U.S. Navy, was detailed to make some systematic observations upon the subject of fish-temperatures with a view to setting the question upon a secure basis of actual experiment. Thermometers were made expressly for the purpose by Mr. John Taglialne, of New York, of unusual delicacy, registering about 10° F. each, and recording fifths of a degree. These were used in connection with Negretti and Zambra’s deep-sea thermometers, and all the instru- ments were deduced to a single standard by frequent comparisons, so as to insure v¢/ative accuracy. The fish were taken with a line, and their temperatures observed at once, care being taken that no considerable change in temperature occurred during the time consumed in bring- ing the fish to the surface. The observed temperatures were then compared with that of the water as recorded by a Negretti-Zambra thermometer sunk to about the depth from which the fishes were taken. The first obser- vations, made by inserting the thermometer into the rectum of the fish, agreed with the generally-received opinion, showing but little higher temperature than that of the surrounding water. The mode of experiment was then somewhat modified. Considering the fact that the intestinal canal of a fish is in close contact with the thin and scarcely vascular walls of the abdomen, which is surrounded by the water in which the animal swims; and, further, that the arterial blood comes from the gills, where it has been spread out as thinly as possible and brought into the closest contact with the surrounding water—a process well calculated to , cool it quickly to the same temperature —it follows that neither the interior of the rectum nor the arterial blood would appear to have the same value as representing the body-temperature in fishes that those parts possess in mammals and birds. It is rather in the venous circula- tion and the branchial] artery that we should seek for the heat which must certainly be developed in the chemical processes of nutrition and waste, and in connection with active muscular movements. In the remaining experi- ments of the series—about ninety in number—the fish was therefore opened at once, and the bulb of the ther- mometer inserted into the cavity of the heart, or branchial artery, with the results indicated in the following table, which shows the averages :— Temp. of Fish. surround-| Rectum, | Venous Remarks, ing water. blood. ~ ° | ° ° Cod .. 39-42 +0798 |+ 463 Haddock so, pve ay +1730 | + 5°30 | Spawning. Pollocle Ween) vase gee 42 +240 | + 4°50 Hake) bars duds; » | + 2'40 | + 9°80 | Spawning. Bluefish ... 709-73" +o0'25 | — 12°55 ; Your kerel + gee | paaegl@ Seay oung mackerel t... 5 "10 } ‘2 Do. do. (Scoruldus 3 Cae. ae dekayii) || o6 60 * a + 2°30§ Sculpiny aie vss 6o* | +080 | + 3'20 Kel Pout T _ + 3°00 | + 6'00 Flounder cs) cc.) ee 42 —_ + 3'00 Dogfish 42 | + 4°40 | + 12%00 | Oviducts contained mature young. Do. young from OVIGUCE oe see ane 42 _ + 20°6> It appears from these experiments that fishes do develop a measurable quantity of animal heat, which is more apparent during the spawning season, and much greater in elasmobranchs (as is to be expected from their more perfect digestive and assimilative apparatus) than in other fishes, It also appears that the measure of this animal heat is to be sought in the venous blood, and not in the intestinal canal or arterial blood. The limits of this preliminary note will not permit us to go into an enumeration of the difficulties of observation or the measures taken to guard against the errors likely to attend them. Nor is the number of observations (ninety-five in all) sufficient to warrant the offering of these figures as a final statement of the degree of animal heat presented by the several fishes observed, All that can be said to be proved so far is the fact that fishes do manifest animal heat, and in considerable quantities, sufficient to warm again, to the extent of from 3° to 12°, blood that has been cooled in each circuit to the tem- perature of the surrounding water. Details will be given in the forthcoming report of the United States Fish Com- mission. In the single instance of a lower temperature than that of the water, observed in five blue-fish, all taken on the same day, it may be that the individuals experimented on, being taken at the surface, had just come up froma much greater depth and colder stratum of water. There seems to be no conceivable provision by which a fish can maintain a temperature below that of the surrounding water, cooling by evaporation being out of the question. The young dogfish from its mother’s oviduct showed a temperature 8° higher than that of the mother herself, for the obvious reason that its blood, not coming into con- tact with the water by its gills (the umbilical sac was still attached), was not cooled otherwise than mediately, through the blood of the mother. NEW MODES OF SHOWING DIFFERENT CHARACTERISTICS OVER SMALL ARCS IN AZIMUTH FROM THE SAME LIGHT- HOUSE APPARATUS V HERE a light on a rock or island has to illuminate constantly the whole horizon, the ordinary dioptric fixed apparatus is all that is required. But when, as at * Surface-swimmers. _ + “Sinkers.’” _ { Stomach, through cesophagus. § Temperature taken in blood flowing from heart, the organ being too small to admit the thermometer. _ 5 || This rare species, not seen in Massachusetts Bay for thirty years, appeared, young, at Provincetown last summer in considerable numbers, { Zoarces anguillaris. The sign ‘‘ +”? indicates excess, and ** — temperature of water. ” deficiency, as compared with Dee. 18, 1879] many places, there is a shoal at some distance from the lighthouse, or where a reef of rocks projects seawards from the shore, it sometimes becomes necessary to adopt means for keeping vessels clear of such dangers at night, as, for example, near Souter Point, where Mr. Douglass and Mr. J. T. Chance employed successfully the electric light for guarding a rock near the shore. What is wanted in such cases is to cover not only the danger itself but some area of the surrounding sea by a characteristic which is different from that of the main light. If in front of a fixed light apparatus whose optical property is to parallelise the rays in the vertical plane while not interfering with their natural divergence in azimuth, there be placed an arrangement of straight horizontal shades or screens similar to the Venetian blinds which are used for house windows, the means will be supplied for easily producing different distinctions. The breadth of those blinds must be such as to subtend from the central flame the same angle as that over which the necessary distinction has to be shown at sea. By opening and shutting simultaneously and gradually the different leaves of the blind, there will be produced the same characteristics as those of an ordinary revolving or flashing light, according as the leaves are moved slowly or quickly and kept shut for a certain period, and these distinctions will be accompanied by the necessary gradual waxing and waning of the emergent rays. By simulta- neously opening and shutting the leaves of the blind suddenly, and keeping them open so as to show a fixed light for a certain length of time, and then keeping them shut so as to produce darkness for a certain length of time, the effect of an intermittent light in which there is no waxing or waning of the rays will obviously be produced. Should it be considered desirable to vary the appearance over the given arc so as to show a gradually increasing length of light period when a vessel is approaching the danger, the maximum period when it is opposite to it, and a correspondingly shortening period as the vessel leaves it, a single straight opaque mask placed outside of the apparatus, and revolving horizontally and with uniform speed on a vertical spindle will produce the result. For while the periods of change will remain the same over the whole arc the duration of darkness will gradually increase as the danger is approached, and gradually decrease after the danger has been passed. And if this vertical shade be made to rotate at a slow and uniform speed it will produce the effect of a revolving light, and if at a quick speed it will produce the effect of a flashing light, with this difference that the flashes wil recur with only an instantaneous interval of darkness, and in both cases there will be a gradual waxing and waning of the rays, By these very simple and cheap expedients a fixed light illuminating the whole horizon (by means of a flame of he ordinary size in relation to the focal length) can easily be made to show accurately over any limited angle in azimuth the effects of the different distinctions referred to, and these combinations will therefore supply a deside- ratum which is often much wanted in coast illumination. In some experiments which were made all these charac- teristics were successfully produced by the two modes described. Where no light is required in any part of the horizon but in one small arc only, as, for example, in illuminating the middle of a long narrow Sound, all the rays proceeding from the lamp should be spread equally overthat arc. A fixed holophote with an opaque disk revolving horizontally in front on a vertical spindle will, if condensing prisms are placed between the disk and the holophote, produce either a revolving or flashing light according to the speed of its revolution, but without any intervening period of dark- ness. If colour distinction be required and a revolving disk of glass be substituted for the opaque mask the characteristic effect produced would be that of arevolving NATURE 157 red and white light without any intervening dark period between the flashes, which would gradually dissolve into each other from red to white and then from white to red. Edinburgh, October 22: THOMAS STEVENSON A FEAT IN TRIANGULATION NOTEWORTHY advance in geodesy has recently been accomplished by the junction of the network of measurements covering a large portion of the surface of Europe, with the African continent. The entire trian- gulation of Algeria was completed by French engineers some time since, and extended to the edge of the Sahara, in lat. 37°. M. Perrier, who had directed in a great measure the triangulation of Algeria, has for the past eleven years been seeking the means of joining the net- work in that country with the perfect trigonometric system covering the surface of Spain, France, and England. The importance of such a junction is easily appreciated when we consider what notable changes in the accurate concep- tion of the shape of the earth and of the length of meridians has been effected by measurements on a much smaller scale. For such an undertaking the most careful and pains- taking preparations were requisite. As the result of his reconnaissances between 1868 and 1872, M. Perrier found that from all the trigonometric points of the first order between Oran and the frontiers of Morocco, the loftier crests of the Sierra Nevada on the Spanish coast opposite, were visible in exceptionally clear weather. Arrangements were subsequently made with the Spanish Geographical Institute for the mutual and contemporaneous execution of the proposed plan. A corps of Spanish officers, under the direction of the well-known General Ibanez, was de- tailed for this purpose, while the French Minister of War placed a division of officers from the E¢at-Major under the command of M. Perrier. The leaders chose for sta- tions in Algeria the summits of Mount Filhaoursen and Mount M’Sabiha, west of Oran, and in Spain the summits of Mount Tetica and Mount Mulhacen, the latter of which is the most elevated point in the kingdom. The direc- tions and distances between these four points were com- puted as carefully as possible, and preparations were then made for the final and determinative observations. At the Algerian stations the nature of the country and its inhabitants necessitated the use of a numerous force of soldiery as well as of means of transport. In order to insure the accuracy of the observations, which required the passage of signals over a distance of 270 kilometres, it was decided to make use of solar re- flectors and powerful lenses. The efficacy of such appa- ratus for even greater distances had already been tested by M. Perrier ; still for the measurements in question they appear to have utterly failed to answer the expectations based upon them, not a single solar signal being visible from any station. Fortunately, the success of the observa- tions did not rest entirely upon this one system of signals. Preparations had likewise been made for the employment of the electric light, and on the summit of each mountain one of Gramme’s electro-magnetic machines worked by engines of 6-horse power had been placed in position. On August 20 last, all the stations were occupied, and the electric lights were displayed throughout each night. Then the patience of the observers was submitted to a lengthy proof. The mists rising from the Mediterranean totally prevented the exchange of signals, until after a delay of twenty days, one after another the electric lights became visible even to the naked eye. Perrier compared the intensity of the light on Tetica nearly 270 kilometres distant, to that of a in Ursa Major, which rose near by, The observations were continued from September 9 to October 18, when this task for which such extensive preparations had been made, was completed in the most satisfactory manner. With its completion we come into 158 NATURE [ Dec. 18, 1839 possession of trigonometric measurements of the most ‘exact nature, extending from lat. 61° in the Shetland Islands, to lat. 34° on the southern frontier of Algeria. The extension of this network southward and eastward in Africa, desirable as it is for the elucidation of many nice points in geodesy, is unfortunately scarcely possible in the immediate future, and science must rest content with gaining a foothold in the great continent. ianeN. A NEW STANDARD OF LIGHT I N the pamphlet before us we have a proposal for a new form of standard light, and the author has shown some considerable skill in drawing out his method of producing it. We cannot do better than quote his ‘opening paragraph as showing the requisites of a standard that the author deems necessary. He says :— “No exact measurement of any quantity, even with the most accurate and sensitive test measures available, can reasonably be expected unless the standard by which the unknown quantity is to be gauged is perfectly constant in itself; or if nature does not permit of such a desirable state of things, the causes to which the variation of the standard are due should be known, and in addition also, their quantitative effect on the standard, in order to be able to introduce a correction whenever accuracy of measurement should permit, and circumstances necessi- tate it.” The want of a standard of light has long been felt in physical researches, and the British Association has acknowledged the impossibility of obtaining scientific measures with the ordinary standards, and has appointed a committee to consider the question of fixing such a standard of white light, that a unit of light may be ‘capable of accurate definition. It must not be forgotten that up to quite recent times the principal necessity for a standard at all has arisen through the introduction of gas into our dwellings and streets, and it has only been necessary to adopt one which should give the compara- tive illuminating powers of any variable qualities of gas. In fixing such a standard the points to be looked at were (1) that the standard should be capable of easy and exact reproduction ; (2) that the colour of the light should be approximately the same; and (3) that in varying states of ‘barometric pressure and temperature, proper corrections in the results of the comparisons should be feasible. It will be seen further on that a fourth desideratum should be introduced for scientific work. Perhaps on no subject has more attention been paid to small details than in the production of a standard candle, and as a result, when burnt under proper conditions, it gives fairly correct values of the illuminating power of gases. In the record of Mr. Schwendler’s experiments with the standard candle as against his new standard of light, we have some startling variations in the light of a standard candle, but we feel sure that, had the proper conditions been observed, there would never have oc- curred such a tremendous difference as 72 per cent. We are more convinced that ordinary precautions could not have been rigidly observed when we find that some of the comparisons were made after the candle had been freshly lighted. In gas photometry it is well known that the standard candle should burn at least a quarter of an hour before it can be considered to have settled down to a steady light. The standard candle, however, is not a “nice unit of light; and two years ago Mr. Vernon Har- court introduced to the notice of the British Asso- ciation a gas standard which seems to meet every requirement. By making a mixture in a small gas- holder of one part of the most volatile spirit from Ameri- can petroleum which distilled at 50° C. with 600 of air, *On a New Standard of Light. By Louis Schwendler. S¥ournal of the Society of Bengal, vol. xlviii. Part ii., 1879. From the or seven of the vapour with twenty of air, he produced a gas which, whilst almost insoluble in water, was perma- nent at al] ordinary temperatures’ and pressures, and which was of a known composition and easy of manufac- ture. A jet of such a gas could be compared with the ordinary coal-gas, and any variations affecting the one would equally affect the other. The colours of the standard and coal-gas lights are also approximately the same. It seems that a standard of such a character meets the requirements for comparing the illuminating value of different coal-gases. Mr. Schwendler proposes to use the light radiated from platinum foil, when raised to incandescence by an electric current, as a new standard, and we agree that a solid instead of a gaseous body as the source of illumination is a step in the right direction. The standards made, however, appear to have been used for determining the illuminating value cf the light pro- duced by dynamo-electric machines under varying con- ditions of speed of armature and resistance in circuit, and it isin reference to this that we will first judge of its probable effectiveness, since for gas measurements the standards already existent suffice. Some dynamo-electric machines are advertised as generating the light of 50,000 candles, and we will suppose for the moment we are comparing such a light with Mr. Schwendler’s standard. Now it may be safely-said that a standard candle, farther away than twenty feet from the photometer, would give too small a light to be practically of use as a standard, whilst if approaching the photometer within one foot the magnitude of the illuminating source would seriously affect any accurate results. In the first case the electric light would have to be about 4,500 feet away from the photometer and in the last about 220 feet. For ordinary photometric work even the least.of these distances would be objectionable. The platinum standard employed by Mr. Schwendler is only about °7 of a standard candle, and these distances would have to be increased nearly 20 per cent. For practical measurements of this description a candle- power of fifty candles is a far preferable value, which it would be difficult to attain by the method proposed. In this case we have the distances reduced, and if the electric lamp is fixed at a distance of 1co feet, we have the movable standard ranging between twenty feet and three to four feet, and the readings become easy and are not subject to be seriously affected by the magnitude of the illuminating source; in fact, the errors of observation then become of larger magnitude than any error arising from this cause. Another point which we have to note is that as far as the colour of the light from the platinum standard is concerned, it possesses very little advantage over the ordinary gas or candle flame, and it would be impossible, or at all events incorrect, to give the illu- minating value of a light such as of that produced by the electric arc in terms of the new standard; some recent experiments have demonstrated that the red light emitted by one square mile of the hollow crater in the positive carbon is equal to about the red light radiated by 40,000 standard candles, whilst the mean green light of the former is equal to the mean green light of about 135,c00 of the latter, and until such a time as the relative physiological values of green and red light are accurately known it will be impossible to give any true estimate of the illuminating power of the electric light by ordinary photometric comparisons. Both in magnitude and colour, then, the proposed platinum standard of light seems to fail for measuring light produced by high temperatures. We now turn to the details of the lamp itself. We have, firstly, a U-shaped piece of thin platinum foil cut out about 20mm. in total length, each limb of the U being about 3mm, in breadth, the tops of which are clipped in thick metal clips. The usual arrangements are made for passing a current through this. foil, the amount being registered by a galvanometer in circuit. A | De. 18; 1879 | NATURE 159 glass shade is also employed for steadying the light, by keeping off convection currents. There seems to be an objection to this form of lamp for accurate ‘scientific work, where it may be necessary to use an zmage of the source of illumination. For instance, in certain spec- troscopic comparisons of different lights only a small portion of the image of the incandescent platinum would fall upon the slit. Now the first difficulty that would be met with would be as to the part of the platinum that would emit a standard light. Near the contacts the heat would be conducted away so rapidly that the colour of the light would be of a different tint. Again, presumably near the middle of the limbs of the U-shaped foil the temperature would be slightly higher than at the outsides ; in fact, no two portions of the foil would be exactly at the same temperature. For work, then, of this class, the standard seems to fail in an important particular. The writer of this notice made many experiments on this point some years ago, and it was this objection that led him to abandon the idea of a platinum standard light of a form somewhat similar to that of Mr. Schwendler. For a standard perfectly suited to scientific work, per- haps the following definition will be found tolerably exact :—It should be a body (solid or liquid), some known area of the surface of which can be kept at a high con- stant temperature. It seems probable that a combination of a body of good with one of a bad conductivity will eventually be found to offer suitable materials for a really trustworthy standard. It would be unjust to conclude this notice without paying a testimony to the great value of the experiments which have been carried out by Mr. Schwendler in this research. It is quite possible that a modification of his platinum standard may be constructed which will elimi- mate the defects which are to be found in it. It is certainly a step in advance of the gas or candle standard for everything beyond merely technical work, but it is not of the same accuracy as other scientific units. W. A. FLOW OF VISCOUS MATERIALS—A MODEL GLACIER “THREE or four years ago an experiment was arranged by Mr. D. Macfarlane and myself for the purpose of showing the flow of a viscous mass and for illustrating glacier motion. The experiment then commenced gave rise to others of a similar nature. These experiments have proved so interesting that I venture to describe some of them to the readers of NATURE. Shortly after his discovery of the true nature of glacier motion, the late Principal Forbes was much pleased when one of his students, now the Rev. C. Watson, of Largs, showed him a quantity of shoemakers’ wax which had been gradually flowing down on the bottom of a vessel accidentally left on an incline. Forbes was delighted with the wax, and considered it an admirable illustration of viscous flow. This was told to me in conversation some four years ago, and it occurred to me that a pretty illustrative glacier might be made with shoemakers’ wax, and we proceeded to construct it. The model glacier has been shown year after year to the natural philosophy class in Glasgow, and has proved interesting and instruc- tive beyond expectation. A little wooden ravine was constructed, with a number of steep declivities and precipices and some more gentle slopes. There is one place, also, where the ravine is narrowed by projections inwards, which nearly meet each other. At the upper end of the ravine there is a flat part, on which ordinary shoemakers’ wax is piled—as where snow collects at theupperend of thenatural ravine; and from this ie ib is) telwh> ust SE ey elt ohses coum: Sune MRR NaruraL History OF THE ANCIENTS « + «© «© © «© ¢ «© «© «© « JSE Our book SHELF :— “Bulletin des Sciences Mathématiques et Astronomiques” . . . 152 Bird’s ‘Lecture Notes on Physics”. . 118 Tete on Be ee eS Wilson’s “ Diagrams of Zoology”. . « = « © © «© = © » « 253 LETT«eRS TO THE L DITOR :— The Exploration of Socotra.—P. L. ScraTer, F.R.S. . . 6 . 153 Monkeys inthe West Indies.—P. L. Scrater, F.R.S, « «6 + « 153 Is Monnt Unzen a Volcano?—H. B. Gurry © blige) Le ey wel Me Astronomical Subject-Index.—J. L. KF. DREYER. « . + « «© « 54 Distinguishing Lights for Lighthouses—Prof. Smvanus P. TROMPSON'’ 2.) 6 0 fo es) wo we ww tele Het Si nen nen amen The First ‘Sin, ”’—Js: «sca ezeje tise tid. all bea The ‘‘ Encyclopedia Britannica”—The Nile—Atpert J, MotT. 155 Lunar Rings.—Dr. GeorGgz Berwick (With Diagram). . . » 155 Stag’s Horns.—G. W. H.. . a) ee es re On a New Coryinc Process. By R. H. RrpouT « « «+ + + «© «© 355 Tue AnimaAu Heat or FISHES...) « & +) 242 #) Sup aeeeae New MopbEs OF SHOWING DIFFERENT CHARACTERISTICS OVER SMALL Arcs IN AZIMUTH FROM THE SAME LIGHTHOUSE APPARATUS. By Tuomas STEvENson, C E Oe otiie Latte oh wl 56 A FEAT IN TRIANGULATION « 6 « 0 ¢ © © 2 © 6 © 8 © © © 357 A New STANDARD OF LIGHT .. . 2 «2+ + +22 2 © es « ss 358 Frow or Viscous Marertats—A Moper Gracier. By J. T. BoTTOMLEY . 2 0°) Nya bee 5 che) 6) ee ee ec Tue Scorrisu Zootocicat Station. By T. Jerreay Parker (With Illustrations) .« Pts | ep \0L) a te, 0) sl i, a oe Tue Fossiz LOVERS». «0.0 = 8 © © © © 2 © @ . 163 Nores MMR eNes Nip rircerieO Our AsTRONOMICAL COLUMN:— The Comet 'of 1652 4 se 0 wi isle) com> § 8pm + 164 Meteors on Octoberigs «+ « © © © =» # # # # # * + 364 Gro.ocicat Notes :— Upper Devonian Rocks of the North of France . « o* Sob. Wee Tertiary Quartzites of the Ardennes . Tet We? aie > « 164 Pyrenees Marble. - « + » » © * * * . 165 Petrography in Spain . «+ 6+ s+ * * e+ * e+ 2 & . © 165 GEOGRAPHICAL NOTRAGG a) ects ntls =o o's) “ui lial Semeembiaies Gs Sun-Srots AND RAINFALLOF PARIS. By C. Mecprum, F.R.S. . . 166 SciznTiFIc SERIALS - = 6 es see tee te ee 8 TB Sociertes AND ACADEMIES (With Diagrams). » + + + » +» + «© 169 a ——— NATURE 173 THURSDAY, DECEMBER 25, 1879 INDIAN ENTOMOLOGY Descriptions of New Indian Lepidopterous Insects, from the Collection of the Late Mr. W. S. Atkinson, M.A., F.LS., &¢. Part I. Rhopalocera, by W. C. Hewitson, F.L.S.; Heterocera, by Frederic Moore, Assist. Curator, India Museum. With an Introductory Notice by Arthur Grote, F.Z.S., &c. 4to, pp. 1-88, with Three Coloured Plates. (Calcutta: Published by the Asiatic Society of Bengal, 1879.) HE hot valleys of the Himalayan regions of our Indian Empire have always justly had especial interest from an entomological point of view. The number of peculiar and apparently strictly endemic, forms of insects already known from this region is great, and principally in the larger species, for even now we know less of the smaller insect-forms of North India than we do of many other less familiar districts not under the advantage of British rule. Indeed, with a few notable exceptions, much of the knowledge we now possess is not precisely of modern origin. The somewhat nume- rous military expeditions to, and across, the Himalayas, undertaken within the last quarter of a century, and the great recent extension of tea and cinchona plantations in these regions, have not resulted in a corresponding in- crease in materials for a Himalayan insect-fauna, In some respects it may be said that we are likely to know more of the entomology of the Lake region of Africa, or of the Amazons region of South America, than of a vast and varied district, for the most part under the govern- ment of our own countrymen, and of a commercial importance second (to us) to no other. Still, important and wonderful discoveries have been made of late years, but they are perhaps eclipsed by the acknowledged exist- ence of forms discovered long ago which would have become almost traditional were it not that the “types” exist in collections, and that they were duly described and delineated with infinite care in works that are no longer modern. As a summary, then, to the foregoing short introduction to a notice of a modern work on Indian Entomology, it may be briefly stated that a great deal of our knowledge was initiated before the present generation, and has not since been adequately supplemented. But, as before-mentioned, there have been notable ex- ceptions, ‘and of these the most notable exists in the fruits of the labours of the much-lamented and talented Mr, Atkinson, an entomologist who, before he left this country for India, had acquired a training in entomological pursuits that his keen powers of observation enabled him to use to the best advantage in the intervals of official duties during a long residence in our Eastern Empire. For a very faithful sketch of Mr. Atkinson’s career in India, the introductory notice at the commencement of the part of the book now under consideration, from the pen of Mr. Arthur Grote, suffices so far as it goes, and nothing is more to be regretted than the melancholy Jinale. Mr. Atkinson left India on three years’ leave, for the purpose of scientifically working out the results of his labours, and died almost suddenly in Italy, before having had time to unpack his stores; and science lost VoL, xx1.—No. 530 the benefit of what could not have been otherwise than. one of the finest original works on Indian entomology that has appeared, or probably ever wil] appear. The collections remain (but more or less dispersed) ; the MS. notes possibly remain also, but they have not been made use of ; the more important personal know- ledge was buried with its possessor. The collections passed nominally into the hands of the late Mr. Hewitson, but the larger and scientifically more important portions ultimately went to Germany. oh So far this notice has been introductory and historical : it remains to refer more particularly to the book. At the outset nothing strikes one as rnore to be deplored than that Mr. Atkinson himself could not have recorded the results of his labours. In that case we should, without the slightest doubt, have had a complete list of the species observed by him, with copious biological, and compara- tive faunistic, notes. As it is, we are compelled to put up with a bare mechanical description of the new species, with only a few words on biology, added by Mr. Grote from his long experience in India. The few new butter- flies are described by Mr. Hewitson, and this part was probably the last work done by him, the proofs having been corrected on his death-bed. The far more numerous and more important Heferocera were confided to the care of Mr. Frederic Moore, by Dr. Staudinger of Dresden, who became their possessor. It would have been impossible to find a more competent entomologist for this task; there is certainly no one who possesses a more exhaustive knowledge of Indian lepidopterous in- sects. We believe Mr. Moore has commenced, and will finish, the undertaking in the most thoroughly conscientious manner, and this first part treats mainly upon the Bom- éyces, a group in which North India is superabundantly rich, and which Mr. Moore has very closely studied. If, then, we find fault with the work it is not with especial reference to Mr, Moore (its principal author), but rather to the system pursued, one which is especially the attribute of writers on exotic Lepidoptera, and which will continue so long as lepidopterists are without a genera] and intelligible generic guide. We find numerous species referred to genera as described by Walker, Felder, &c., and new genera based on characters compared with these. We ask, would it be possible for any entomologist to identify a vast majority of Mr. Walker’s generic (or specific) descriptions without referring to the types? and if not, what, from a scientific point of view, is the use of them at all? In the case of Felder (“ Reise der Vovara’’) it is somewhat different, but the importance is equal. Had that author lived there is little doubt that full and com- parative descriptions would have been to hand; as it is, we have little more than an extensive series of beautiful and accurate figures with names applied to them, or with a few words of diagnosis. If our lepidopterists will con- sent for a few years to an interruption in this interminable and eminently unsatisfactory work of bare “ descriptions,” and combinedly commence and continue an exhaustive illustrated generic synopsis, they will earn for themselves more fame hereafter than they appear to foresee. Their present system of working only tends daily to render the subject more complicated. The plates in Part I. of this work are of the greatest excellence so far as they go, and the colouring appears q 174 NATURE to warrant the extreme praise of not being overdone. But we confess to being more pleased with certain parallel plates on the Lepidoptera of the Dutch Indies that have recently appeared in the Tijdschrift voor Ento- mologie (the publication of the Entomological Society of the Netherlands). Our English plates of butterflies and moths too often remind us irresistibly of the sheets of figures of these insects (often beautifully executed) that appear in the shop-windows to be utilised as “scraps,”’ or in any way the purchasers may think fit. That in the majority of cases they serve to identify the species is probable, but they lack the slightest delineation of structural details other than those shown in the general outline of the body and wings. The figures of moths are innocent of legs, innocent of neural details, innocent of palpi (unless these organs be more than usually pro- minent), and equally innocent of other indications that are now often considered of importance. Many of the species here described and figured have their evident palzarctic analogues; but, in the absence of a complete list of those found by Mr. Atkinson and other Indian observers, it is impossible to form an idea as to the general nature of the Himalayan lepidopterous fauna. R. MCLACHLAN MINERAL DEPOSITS Die Lehre von den Lagerstitten der Erze; ein Zweig der Geologie. Von Dr. Albrecht von Groddeck. 8vo. pp. 350. (Leipzig, 1879.) N this volume the phenomena characteristic of mineral deposits are concisely treated in a manner suited for students’ use. The descriptive matter is arranged under three heads, the first dealing with the forms of lodes, beds, &c., and their relations to the containing walls or “country ”’ rocks, the second with the contents, or more particularly, with the distribution in the deposits them- selves of such contents in the shape of valuable minerals ; while the third is a ‘‘ system of mineral deposits” arranged under different sub-sections, such as original and recon- structed deposits, beds stratified and massive, veins and other deposits filling cracks and hollows, &c. ; each parti- cular case being referred to a so-called type bearing a special name. The fourth and final section contains a theory of the origin of mineral deposits in general. Of the matter contained, much is reproduced from the late Dr. B. von Cotta’s “ Lehre von der Erzlagerstatten,” the last edition of which was published in 1861, the remainder being forthe most part derived from papers by various authors that have appeared for the last twenty years, in different German journals, devoted to geological and mining matters. The principal novelty is the arrangement of the third part, and this is not very satisfactory, the fifty-six types making up the “System” being based partly on structural and partly on topographical considerations, the grouping being too artificial to be of any real geological value. Thus, for example, deposits of chromic iron ore in ser- pentine are said to belong to the “Wooded Peak” type, because an occurrence of this kind has been reported from a place bearing that not very distinctive name in New Zealand; the famous old mines of Chessy and Monte- catini are examples of the Mednorudjansk type, whose “characteristic” is given as follows: “ Pyritic ores .. . in unstratified (#zassigen) rocks oftenest Diorite Gabbro and Olivine rocks (serpentine).” This particular deposit, named as the type perhaps better known as the Nishne Tagilsk malachite mine does not, however, occur in un- stratified rocks, but in a mass of chloritic, argillaceous, and talcose schists, inclosed in upper Silurian limestones ; the author having been led into a mistake by not properly looking up his authorities, the account relied upon being one published in a German journal twelve or thirteen years ago. In another case, the Tellemarken-Cornwall type, the characteristic is “ Lodes in sedimentary rocks, prepon- derating contents quartz and copper ores in varying proportions, less common are barytes, carbonates, and sili- cate of zinc, tin-stone, galena, &c.’’ The examples given of this type appear to show that the copper ores of Telle- marken are not in veins in stratified rocks, but in quartz strings in granite dykes, a tolerably common class of occurrence in Scandinavia, and about as much unlike the . ordinary type of Cornish lode phenomena as can well be imagined. Many other examples might be adduced of the in- congruities arising from the author’s method of classifi- cation. The accounts of the different districts are very dispro- portionate in value, especially in non-German countries. Thus Cornwall is dismissed in a page and a half, re- produced from Cotta’s work, and the whole of the car- boniferous limestone lead regions of Central and Northern England are included in a word or two about Derbyshire and Cumberland, the Silurian districts of Wales not receiv- ing any notice. Iron ores are still more capriciously treated, the thin, stratified, spathic and clay band ores of Westphalia taking the first place, while the mighty deposits of Styria are allowed eight lines. No mention is made of either Mokta-el-Hadid, Hodbarrow, or any other of the great mines in the Furness, Ulverstone, or Whitehaven districts, Sommorostro or any other of the Bilbao mines ; and, generally speaking, the great sources of supply to the iron-smelters in Western Europe are conspicuous by their absence. Against this we have to set tolerably complete notices of the iron ores of the United States, derived for the most part from Dr. Wedding’s Pennsylvanian Exhibition Report. The work being primarily intended for the use of German students may perhaps account for the circum- stance that in the references only German writers are noticed, and this is so completely carried out, that in the few cases where an English or American authority is named, ~ the titles of their works are not given. This is the more to be regretted, as the use of original memoirs might in some cases have prevented the appearance of errors in the text, obviously due to the second-hand sources of information usually relied upon by the author. The careful study of a single good memoir, such as that of the late Prof. Axel Erdmann onthe Dannemora Mines, for example, would probably be of more value as a means of preparing a student for recording original observations, than the most complete knowledge of the types of the very artificial system contained in the work. H. B. [Dec. 25, 1879 Dee. 25, 1879] NATURE 175 ee OUR BOOK SHELF The Climate of Eastern Asia. By Dr. H. Fritsche, Director of the Imperial Russian Observatory at Peking. Pp. 210, Maps 18. (Printed at the Celestial Empire Office, Shanghai.) In this memoir Dr. Fritsche has very fully gathered together the various meteorological observations which have been made in Eastern Asia up to the present time, and discussed them in such a way as to cast addi- tional light on the laws of meteorological phenomena ruling in that part of the globe. With the aid of the fresh information obtained from the observations of the past dozen years which it may be remarked have been made with instruments generally of improved quality and at known heights above sea-level, he has made several important rectifications on the isothermal and isobaric lines of Eastern Asia; and stated with more adequate emphasis than has been done heretofore the extra- ordinary climatic influence of that enormous mass of unbroken land practically destitute of lakes and of the cold arctic currents which wash its eastern coasts. In winter, atmospheric pressure is high on the con- tinent, and the general movement of the atmosphere being from north-west and north, intensely cold air-cur- rents set in southward from the arid wastes of the interior, and are carried into lower latitudes than in any other quarter of the globe. Hence the mean temperature of January in the territory of the Amoor is 18%0 lower than that of the eastern coast of North America in the same latitudes ; and even at Canton, which is just within the tropics, the temperature sometimes sinks to freezing and snow falls. On the other hand, in summer atmospheric pressure is low on the continent, and the prevailing winds being south-east and south the cold ocean currents flowing along the coast from the north powerfully affect the climate in moderating the summer-heat for some distance inland. Dr, Fritsche’s isothermals show that this influence is much greater than is usually indicated on isothermal charts. An extremely interesting comparison of climates is made by an elaborate discussion of their monthly and annual absolute maxima and minima of temperature, but the conclusions would have been more valuable as well as more telling if the methods of observation had been uniform throughout. Indeed, in dealing with extreme temperatures, want of uniformity of observation frequently lays a complete arrest on all discussion. Dr. Fritsche places in a striking light the influence on climate respectively of the warm waters of the Gulf Stream and of the colossal dry continent of Asia. In January the difference between the mean temperature of the North Pole and that of the equator is, according to Dove, 106°o. Now, since Western Europe, which is the same distance from Eastern Asia that the equator is from the Pole, has a January temperature 50°-4 higher than that of Eastern Asia, it follows that the influence of the distribution of land and water on the mean temperature of January is nearly a half of that occasioned by latitude. An elaborate comparison of Buchan’s charts of isobaric lines for the coasts and islands of Eastern Asia with recent observations is made, with the result of an average error of one millimetre (o'040 inch). Much, however, remains to be done in settling this important physical datum of the climate of Asia; and it can only be satis- factorily accomplished by the substitution of mercurial for aneroid barometers where such are used, a more accurate determination of the heights above sea-level, and the establishment of additional meteorological sta- tions in eastern and northern Siberia. Report on the Pathological Histology a Epizodtic Pleuropneumonia. By Charles S. Roy, M.D. (London; published by the British Medical Association, 1879.) AMONG the many infectious diseases which domestic animals are subject to, pleuropneumonia of cattle is one of serious importance to this, and indeed to every country. Owing to the facility with which infection spreads, the comparatively long duration of the malady, and the high mortality of the affected animals, an epidemic outbreak of this disease inflicts heavy losses on the holders of live stock and on the community at large as the consumers of articles of food derived from cattle. Every con- tribution to elucidate its intimate patholo » is, there- fore, of value, not only in furthering a better under- standing of this particular malady, and thus probably enabling us to grapple more successfully with its pre- vention, but also in throwing light on infectious diseases in general. The British Medical Association, by the assistance of grants, which it bestows with laudable liberality in all cases where they are deservediy needed, has for some years been foremost in promoting the advancement of the various branches of medical science, and it has in a similar manner enabled Dr. Roy, at the suggestion of Dr. Burdon Sanderson, to carry out an important in- vestigation into the anatomy of pleuropneumonia. To enumerate all the details of this investigation would be more than is possible in a short notice like this, and, probably more than is customary in this journal, but some of the more important results may be here briefly mentioned. In the earlier stages of the disease the lymphatics, especially those of the sub-pleural plexus and of the con- nective tissue separating the individual lobules of the lung tissue, are found very much distended, being filled with an exudation which at first is chiefly fibrinous, but later on becomes crowded with cells of various sizes. The lung-tissue itself is the seat of an inflammatory process, which is chiefly characterised by the “absence of uni- formity” ; in some parts it is similar to what is known to pathologists as lobular pneumonia, in others it resembles croupous pneumonia, In this respect the pleuropneumonia does not differ from the lung affection in many other infectious diseases. = Dr. Roy states that in some parts of the lung there is also a hypertrophy of the muscular tissue of the paren- chyma, and illustrates this with a drawing, viz., Fig. VII. ; but to this we must take exception, for this figure illus- trates merely the structure of a normal infundibulum, very distinct as such by its epithelium and muscular tissue. As the morbid process advances, large sections of the lung tissue become involved in the inflammatory change, and amongst them the bronchi themselves and the lymphatic trunks leading into the bronchial lymphatic glands. No distinct evidence of the presence of minute organisms in the affected parts could be obtained. That the malady involves, to a great extent, the lymphatics of the lung, Dr. Roy learned by first making a special investigation into their distribution in the normal lung of cattle, and as the result of this investigation several important facts were ascertained : the individual lobules possess a certain independence from one another both in their blood- and lymph-vessels ; the subpleural or superficial lymphatics form a stellate plexus for each lobule ; the efferent branches of this plexus join the peri- bronchial and perivascular lymphatics. In this last respect the lung of cattle differs from that of many other animals, for in these latter there exist special vessels leading from the subpleural plexus through the ligaments of the lung to the root of this organ. The Report is accompanied by ten lithographed draw- ings illustrating very capitally the more striking features of the morbid process. We should have liked, however, to see their number increased by several additional drawings showing the distribution of the lymphatics of the normal lung. E. Kein 176 NATURE [Dec. 25, 1879 nn nnn nn EEE rrr nnn LETTERS TO THE EDITOR [Zhe Editor does not hold himself responsible for opinions expressed by his correspondents. Neither can he undertake to return, or to correspond with the writers of, rejected manuscripts, No notice is taken of anonymous communications. [ The Editor urgently requests correspondents to keep their letters as short as possible, The pressure on his space is so great that it is impossible otherwise to ensure the appearance even of com- munications containing interesting and novel facts.] The Temperature of the Air at Various Levels In a treatise recently published at Prague,’ the author, Mr. Schlemiiller, proposes to establish a formula, by which the temperature of the atmosphere at any level above the surface of the earth could be calculated, a similar calculation giving also the height of the atmosphere. Mr. Schlemiiller’s train of reasoning is about this :— The temperature of a gas is dependent on the vis viva of the motion of its molecules. Now, the molecules of the air moving upwards axe gradually Josing their vis viva by the action of gravity, whereas, in moving downwards they gain velocity by the same action. It is, therefore, evident that the molecules must have more vs viva in the lower strata of the atmosphere than at higher levels, that is to say, the temperature of the atmosphere must decrease as the height zxcreases. If we know the velocity of an air-molecule at the surface of the earth, we can easily calculate the maximum height to which it can move when going up vertically. This height is the height of the atmosphere. At the upper limit of the atmosphere the molecules have no velocity at all, the temperature is there at the absolute zero. (It must be remembered that the author treats of an atmosphere not exposed to radiation.) Now, these ideas are not new, as the author himself admits on page 9 of his treatise. He has, however, added to them two new suppositions of his own, and to these we shall confine our attention, First, the author supposes that at any temperature of a gas the molecules have a certain velocity, which is egwa/ for all of them, that is to say, the molecules move in all possible directions, but altogether at the same speed, This is, of course, a hypothesis, which can neither be proved nor refuted ; it is, however, admis- sible. The other supposition of the author, however, is quite erroneous, and so the results arrived at by means of it are also valueless. Mr. Schlemiiller supposes that the molecular velocity of gases has not been calculated rightly as yet, and he therefore proposes to correct the error. His own words are as fol- lows :— ** Let 1 be a point of the wall P Qinclosing the gas. The mole- cules will strike this point in all directions, each of them having a mass m, and moving at acertain speed V, All the striking forces form, therefore, a hemisphere, whose radius is equal to Q mV, the wall PQ being the basis of it. The acting componen of the striking force is evidently 17M = mV cosa. All the possible components 7 7 cos a represent, therefore, ordinates of the hemispherical surface mentioned before, taking PQas a basis.” As there is no preference for any of the directions, the mean striking force acting on the wall PQ will be measured by the mean value of all » V cos a, viz., by the ordinate of the centre of gravity of the hemispherical surface, As, however, this centre of gravity is situated at half the length of the radius 47 from P Q, the mean value of the striking force will be mx aaette V 2 or 2 a i . and V = 2%, that is to say, the mean component of the _ * Der Zusammenhang zwischen Héhenunterschied, Temperatur und Druck in einer ruhenden nicht bestrahlten Atmosphare, sowie die Héhe der Atmo sphare. Von W. Schlemuller. (Prag: Dominicus, 1880.) 2 By a misprint the original has mm N 2 molecular velocity taken at a right angle to the wall PQ is equal to half the actual velocity.” “* Considering all this, we shall be abie to establish a relation between the molecular velocity, the volume, and the mass of a gas inclosed in a cubical vessel, We shall follow the method in- dicated by Joule,* and introducing into the calculations through- out the mean value z, instead of 7 we get for V double the ordinary value, viz. :— V=2+V73¢PoV.(1 + a2) g being the acceleration of gravity, P, the normal pressure, 17, the volume of one kilogramme of the gas at 0° C. (32° F.), a = O, 00365 the coefficient of dilatation, ¢ the temperature in Centigrades above the freezing-point.” It seems that Mr. Schlemiiller is not aware of the fact that Clausius fally twenty-two years ago published a very elabo- rate treatise,” in which he calculated the molecular velocity, sup- posing the molecules zo have egual velocities, but to move in all possible directions. Now these are exactly the conditions sup- posed also by Mr, Schlemiiller, and yet Clausius has found, just as Krénig before him— Vi= N3¢P,V0 (1 + a2) instead of Mr. Schlemiiller’s double value. In another way Briot? has found the same result, whereas according to the theory published by the late. Prof. Maxwell,* the molecular velocity is— nS NATTA + at), There are thus pretty many calculations published already, all of them, according to Mr. Schlemiiller, being wrong, and even very much wrong (viz., by 100 per cent.). It can be shown, however, that the fault is Mr, Schlemiiller’s, and not Krénig’s, Clausius’s, Briot’s, or Maxwell’s. Mr. Schle- miiller, according to his own statement, accepts the caleula- tion given by Krénig (which he ascribes to Joule), simply replacing the value V by z . Now, in Krénig’s final formula the value 7? occurs, and this value is arrived at by a double step. First, it is shown that the force with which a molecule strikes the wall is proportionate to its velocity V ; secondly, the number of strokes occurring in one second is shown to be also proportionate to the value VY. Thus the final result is found to contain the value V*. If the molecules are supposed to moye in all possible directions, it might perhaps be admissible to make the mean striking force of a molecule proportionate to the meaz normal component m r , (being the mean value of all mV cos a) but it is quite wrong to replace V simply by Ay when the zsm- ber of strokes is calculated. If a molecule of a gas contained in a cubical vessel is moving in the direction of one side of the 2 - Lees vessel, it will strike one of the «walls Z times per second, V a being the velocity and @ the length of the vessel’s side. Tf, however, the molecules move in all possible directions, it would be quite erroneous to suppose that the mean number of strokes per second will be st viz., that V can be replaced simply by z. But that is exactly what Mr. Schlemiiller does. The problem is not very easy indeed, and certainly not so simple as Mr, Schlemiiller seems to think. The elaborate calculations of Clausius and Maxwell are a sufficient proof of that. Mr, Schlemiiller, having thus found his value of VY, proceeds to calculate the decrease of vis viva of a moving molecule corre- sponding to a given increase of elevation above the surface of the earth, or, in other words, he calculates the decrease of tem- perature towards the higher regions of the atmosphere. The result found by him is a fall in temperature of 1° Centigrade to every 175611 m, or 1° F, to 106°7 yards. Calculating further the height of the atmosphere, viz., the height which can be reached by a molecule starting at a given speed from the surface of the * For we ought to know the formula for the molecular velocity was first given by Krinig. . A , 4 2 This paper was also published in the Pfz/. Mag., 4th series, vol, xiv. . 108, 3 “Théorie mécanique de la Chaleur,” chap, ix. § 141. 4 Phil. Mag., 4th series, vol. xix, p. 22. — | Dec. 25, 1879] “e . . jie eet : NATURE 177 earth, and going vertically upwards, Mr. Schlemiiller finds the height of an atmosphere ; Of pure oxygen. Of pure nitrogen... Of watery vapour ... These results are, indeed, fair approximations to the ordinary values. At the end of his treatise the author gives some formule which are destined to serve for the measurement of heights by means of the barometer and thermometer, On p. Io there is a curious statement. Supposing the air or gas to be inclosed in a vertical ‘‘ narrow tube,” the author thinks that the molecules will be able to make vertical movements only, and he introduces, therefore, into his calculations the mean value of the vertical components of their velocity, viz., £ The result 43,360m., or 27 miles 49,360m., or 31 miles 76,980m., or 48 miles is that, according to Mr. Schlemiiller, the temperature in a narrow vertical tube, open at top and bottom, increases four times faster towards the bottom than in the free atmosphere. What the author considers to be a ‘‘narrow tube” he shows on p. 12, where he applies his rule to a pit or well(!). It is not too much to say that a perpetuum mobile might be constructed on that principle. Mr. Schlemiiller’s formule for measuring heights might be perhaps accepted by some who would take the numerical results given by the author as a sufficient proof of his theory, It is, howeyer, impossible that a theory resting on false assumptions should give correct results, and the coincidence of the results given with data derived from other sources is only apparent. First these data themselves are so varying that it is not very difficult to produce a number approaching pretty closely to some of. them ; on the other hand, the results calculated from a theory which supposes an atmosphere not exposed to radiation ought not to coincide with data derived from the ac/ual atmosphere, which is far from fulfilling the conditions supposed by the theory. L. Hajnis Prague, December 3 Alternative Interpretation of Sensation THE curious optical phenomena which form the subject of Mr. Ackroyd’s letter (NATURE, vol. xxi. p. 108) have their analogues, as many have probably observed, in other orders of sensation. When travelling by railway, or indeed in any closed vehicle, I have often noticed that, if passing objects be shut out from view, it is possible with a little effort to mentally reverse the direction of the train, so that if sensation only were con- cerned, there would be no doubt as to this reversed motion, Another example of this choice of interpretation is also afforded by the sensations of motion, but in a slightly different way. Standing low down by the water, on a moving steamer or on a bridge over a rapid stream, we can at will either fée/ that we are moving through the water or that we are stationary while the water is flowing by. The same, or at any rate a very similar, choice is presented when the clouds are seudding over the moon’s disk; we can either see the moon travelling behind unmoving clouds, or the clouds passing rapidly across the moon. It would appear from the above facts that we have in certain cases the power of selecting from the experiences which have been associated with a given set of sensations that one which we wish the sensations to convey. It is difficult to see how this can be explained without admitting a certain amount of freedom of will, as the sum of our previous experience, including the sensation itself, is the same, whether we choose to go backwards or forwards, to stand still or to move on. FRED. D, BROWN Science Schools, South Kensington, December 16 Curious Incubation INDIAN birds avail themselves largely of natural heat in ineu- bating ; as breeding-time generally begins in March, the hot weather is generally well on by the time the eggs are laid, and as the temperature of the air is rever below a minimum of g8°— 100° during the day, the eggs are but little sat upon except during the night, and so rest and duty are combined judiciously, On one occasion I collected birds’ eggs, and, until I could blow them, I used to place them in a drawer of my office table, and there they would lie for two or three days until I had leisure, . One day, while writing, I heard strange sounds from this drawer, and opening it found a young crow (Corvus splendens) emerged from its egg. Ona second occasion I similarly found a young myna. I tried hard to rear these strange hatchings, but failed. One day I saw a kite’s nest in the top of a fan palm, and sent up a native to bring down the contents, which turned out to be eggs. In a spirit of mischief I placed them, without saying anything to any one, under a hen which was sitting upon ducks’ eggs, and awaited the result. Two days after, my fowl-man came to me with a long and solemn face, and asked permission to address me, That accorded, he mysteriously whispered, “My lord, a great wonder has occurred in the fowl-house; 2 marvel has happened; devils have been hatched in the fowl- house.” Then began a /ad/eau of descriptive acting which I cannot reproduce. ‘*Did not I place ducks’ eggs under that hen, and, my lord, have not ducks flat feet like this (flattening and extending his hand), and noses like this (compressing his thumb and index-finger); have they not, my lord?” On my solemnly assenting, he proceeded : ‘‘ But these devils, my lord, have feet like this (clawing all his fingers), and noses like this (hooking his thumb and index together at his own nose)? Oh! my lord, what shallI do?” ‘* Well, let me see these devils,” I replied, sympathisingly ; and we walked off to the fowl-house and found the hen sitting dazed beside her basket, in which were five recently-hatched kites. The /iza/e was tragical, for the poor hen abandoned both her eggs and the kites, and the latter would have died had I not had them replaced in their nest. As it was, the ducks’ eggs were abandoned. R, F. HuTcHinson THE GEOLOGY OF THE HENRY MOUNTAINS* ak Henry Mountains are a group of five peaks, ranging in height from 7,000 to 11,000 feet above the sea, which rise out of the table-land, now so well known to all students of physical geography, to which the American geologists have given the name of the Colorado: Plateau. They are situated in Southern Utah, and are crossed by the meridian of 110° 45’ and the thirty-eighth parallel. They stand close upon the northern bank of the Colo- rado, which flows past their base in a cafion 1,500 feet in depth. Mr. Gilbert’s account of the geology of these mountains is specially interesting to the student of physical geology, on account of the explanation it contains of the machi- nery by which their uplift was brought about. His views have certainly the merit of novelty, and at the same time the evidence in their favour, if not quite conclusiye, carries with it considerable weight. All previous speculation on the subject of mountain- building may be grouped under two heads. Nearly all mountain ranges have a central axis or core of crystalline rock. By the older geologists this crystalline mass was looked upon as intrusive, and it was believed that the violent injection of a huge body of molten matter had lifted up the stratified rocks through which it forced its way, and shouldered them off on either side, giving them a dip coinciding in direction and approximately in amount with the slopes of the chain. A section across a moun- tain chain would show, according to this view, an anti- clinal arrangement of the bedded rocks with a body of intrusive rock in the centre, and it was the intrusion of this central mass that was believed to have caused the upheaval. The force, then, which according to this view, raised mountains to their present elevation, was of the nature of a thrust acting vertically upwards. Never, perhaps, did any theory collapse more com- pletely than this when it came to be subjected to the test of examination in the field. As mountain chains were one by one investigated by geologists, the anticlinal arrangement of their rocks which this theory required was found to be more and more conspicuous by its absence. Marked peculiarities of structure were indeed found to be so universally present in mountain chains, that no range of hills was deemed worthy of that title * “Report on the Geology of the Henry Mountains.” By G. K. Gilbert. (Washingten, 1877.) 178 NATURE [Dec. 25, 1879 Unless it possessed them, But these characteristic struc- ures were vastly different from the simple anticlinal tilting which the earlier speculators had believed to be the typical arrangement of the beds in a mountain chain. It was found that the rocks had been folded into a num- ber of very sharp troughs and arches whose axes ran roughly parallel to the trend of the chain. The radii of some of the curves were measured by miles, while in other cases the beds had been puckered up into minute and complicated convolutions. Frequently the arches had been canted over, and inversion of the beds had been produced. Slaty cleavage had been largely deve- loped, the planes of cleavage having the same general bearing as the axes of the range. Faulting had taken place on a large scale, and the rocks were often jammed and mashed together till a state of confusion that defied description had been produced. No single thrust acting vertically upwards could have brought about such results as the repeated folding, the inversion, the cleavage, and the smashing; but every- thing pointed to powerful pressure acting in a horizontal direction which had wrinkled up a vast thickness of strata into mighty folds, and sometimes jammed them together till they became little better than a mash of shattered and ruined rock. The crystalline core was in some cases nothing more than the result of intense metamorphism ; and where it was intrusive, there was every reason to think that the molten or pasty rock had been driven up through fissures by the squeezing which the rocks had undergone ; in fact, so far from the crystalline centre being the cause of the upheaval, its presence was only one of the results which almost necessarily followed from the way in which that upheaval had been brought about. All the facts then seemed to show that mountain chains had not been uplifted by a force acting vertically upwards, -but had been ridged up by a sgucezing force acting hori- zontally on a very thick mass of strata. That denudation carved into shape the mass as it rose ‘was soon realised, but we are here concerned only with the early stages in the genesis of a mountain chain. Now one point of great interest in the geology of the Henry Mountains, is that they seem at first sight to form a striking exception to the law of arrangement, perhaps we might more properly say disarrangement, which prevails so widely in mountain chains. They might also, to a casual observer, seem to supply a case where the structure assigned by the earlier geologists to mountain ranges, and which has been looked for in vain so often, does really exist. Careful investigation, however, shows that neither of these suppositions would be true. The structure of the Henry Mountains is simple when compared with the complicated foldings and disturbances so characteristic of mountainchains. In the case of each of these mountains the strata are arranged in dome- shaped fashion dipping outwards in all directions from the centre. The strata of the plateau from which they rise are all but horizontal; around the base of each mountain the beds bend up and “rise, slowly at first, but with steadily increasing dip, till an angle of 45° is reached. The dip then steadily diminishes to the centre, where it is nothing.’? In some cases the beds slope away from a single centre, in others a great arch is made up by the confluence of a number of smaller domes. Widely different as this arrangement is from the com- plicated contortion and disturbance usually met with in mountain chains, the Henry Mountains furnish no excep- tion to the broad generalisation that mountain chains always exhibit intense convolution and smashing of their rocks. For the Henry Mountains are in no sense a moun- tain range. They are a group of peaks, each of which is an isolated individual; they show little or no tendency towards a linear arrangement; “they would prove per- fectly intractable in the hands of those geologists who draw parallel lines through groups of volcanic vents by way of showing their trend. They are as_ perfectly heterotactous as they could be made by artificial arrange- ment.”’ : . In the case of several of the Henry Mountains the centre of the hill is seen to be occupied by a core of intrusive trachyte, from which intrusive sheets and dykes are given off. Reasoning from analogy Mr. Gilbert believes that in those cases where no such core can. be seen, there still is one present under ground, but as yet uncovered by denudation. The upper surface of these cores is arched, and seems to run parallel to the bedding of the overlying rocks, It certainly looks as if we had here a case when strata originally horizontal had been bent up into a dome by the injection from below of a mass of molten rock. And this is the explanation adopted by Mr. Gilbert, but his views differ widely from those which the earlier geologists would have maintained had they been acquainted with these mountains. The earlier speculators gave to their intrusive masses a wedge-shaped form, representing them as broadening downwards and extending to the lowest depths to which geological speculation ventured to penetrate. The intru- sive cores of the Henry Mountains, on the other hand, are represented by Mr. Gilbert as bounded on their under side by a horizontal plane and as resting on horizontal strata. They have, in fact according to him the shape of a huge plano-convex lens, with its flat face downwards; the curved surface is however rather a portion of an oblate spheroid than a sphere, for the trachytic masses are somewhat flattened on the top; some of them too are oval rather than circular in plan. To an intrusive mass of this shape he gives the name of a laccolite, from Aakkos, a cistern, and AiOos, stone. His theory of the genesis of a laccolitic mountain is as follows :—Lava was pumped up through a chimney or fissure and at a certain point in its upward course spread itself out between two adjoining beds in the form of an intrusive sheet ; by farther additions of lava from below the sheet is thickened, the overlying strata are more and more arched, till at last they are bent up into a dome. Of course this involves the stretching of the overlying strata; in the case of one of the domes it is calculated that there must have been an extension of 300 feet in three miles. Mr. Gilbert has shown that this elongation is rendered possible by the fact that at the time of their flexure the beds were loaded by a crushing weight; directly the tension exceeded the limits of cohesion, and a fissure was torn open, or rather directly a fissure would have been torn open had the bending taken place at the surface, the weight of the pile of strata overhead crushed together the walls and closed the rent. That a cover of rock, perhaps 7,000 feet, and possibly 11,000 feet in thick- ness, would tend to this result is clear enough, but that it did not always prevent rupture is shown by the numerous dykes associated with the laccolites. Mr. Gilbert has attempted to show by mathematical calculation that at a given depth the overlying strata could not be lifted if the area of the laccolite falls short of a certain value. His method involves certain assumptions which render it somewhat unsatisfactory, and his conclusion seems to be inconsistent with the explanation he gives of the formation of a laccolitic mountain ; for according to him the first step in that process is the production of an intrusive sheet. This in itself involves the uplifting of the beds above, and his calculations show that no uplifting could take place till the sheet had reached a certain size. The failure, however, to solve by mathematical methods a problem of this difficult nature by no means implies a rejection of the theory. A much more important matter is the examination of the evidence by which the existence of these peculiarly shaped bodies of in- trusive rock is supported. Mr. Gilbert has evidently seen enough to satisfy himself on this point, and we Dee 25, 1879] NATURE 179 are quite willing to put every confidence in the state- ments of so accurate and skilful an observer; at the same time we cannot help feeling some regret that he has not been a little more explicit in his description of the sections which lay open the characteristic form of the laccolite. The horizontal base and the undisturbed state of the underlying strata are the first points on which we wish to be thoroughly assured. It is stated that “in five instances one side of the dome of strata has been washed away, exposing the core of trachyte to its base, and showing undisturbed strata beneath.” We do not doubt the statement, but we should have been better satisfied if these cases had been described more in detail in the special account of the separate mountains. The views of the Marvine laccolite in Figs. 43 and 44, if we under- stand them aright, do seem to be conclusive on the point of the horizontal base; but the evidence would have been more convincing if these plates had been explained at greater length in the text. In fact, the one fault we have to find with the book is the difficulty of understanding the illustrations; they are not striking from an artistic point of view ; in some the letters of reference are so indistinct that they can be found only with the utmost difficulty, and we confess that by some we have been fairly beaten; we should, for instance, very much like to know which is the laccolite in Fig. 33. Again, the evidence for the parallelism between the upper surface of the laccolite and the bedding of the overlying rocks, has hardly been brought out with sufficient distinctness ; after a comparison, for instance, of Figs. 25 and 26, an invidious critic might have some- thing severe to say about the proportion which the part of the laccolite actually seen bears to that which is admittedly theoretical. But we have made these remarks in no captious spirit ; | we wish merely to express our fear that the acceptance | of Mr. Gilbert’s ingenious speculations may be hindered | by a lack of detail in the statement of the evidence he brings forward in support of them. Assuming Mr. Gilbert's theory to be sound and good, it is not likely that the Henry Mountains are the only ones constructed on the laccolitic type. Mr. Gilbert is inclined to class under this head a number of mountains in the western territories, grouped together under one type by Dr. A. C. Beale, in a paper in No. 3 vol. iii. of the Sulietin of the United States Geological Survey. We cannot say that there is anything in Dr. Beale’s description which would lead us to assign these mountains to the laccolitic group; and in one case, that of the Elk Mountains, the careful account given in the Report for 1874 of the Geological and Geographical Survey of the Territories, seems to show that they form a normal mountain range ridged up by horizontal pressure. There is one problem which has been always more or less of a puzzle to the student of volcanic phenomena, on which Mr. Gilbert’s speculations may possibly throw con- siderable light: we mean the formation of pit-craters. Mr. Scrope showed how these singular depressions had probably been blown out by one single explosion of un- usual violence, and Mr. Judd has suggested their con- nection with intrusive sheets. If we suppose a rapid accumulation of lava ina laccolitic mass, and a sudden development within it of steam of high tension, we shall have exactly the conditions suitable for producing one of those explosions which there is every reason to think have been the cause of pit-craters. The work contains a long and elaborate chapter on “arth Sculpture,’’ which space will not allow us to do more than mention, and concludes with a chapter on Economics, in which the author insists with almost pathetic earnestness, that the Henry Mountains, full of interest as they are for the geologist, can never be put to any profitable account commercially, unless possibly in parts for grazing, Nature would seem here to have laid 1s herself out to frame a district which should have attrac- tions for no one but the student of pure science. AS TTS G. FINNIC ETHNOLOGY A DECIDED stage in the progress of Finnish studies is marked by the sumptuous work on “ Finnish Crania,” recently published by the native ethnologist, Gustavus Retzius.! Continuing the investigations of his father, Anders Retzius, this distinguished anthropologist has at last been enabled to arrive at some definite conclusions both as regards the type itself and its geographical area. The elder writer was a warm advocate of what may be called the Finno-European theory, which is still popular amongst a certain school of fearless anthropologists, and which, since the discovery of the Cuneiform writings, has received a fresh impulse and a wider extension. This is not the place to discuss the angry question of the Finno- Ugrian relations to the Accad language and civilisation of Babylonia. But many enthusiasts will probably be disappointed to hear that the younger writer abandons his father’s position, and deals a severe blow to the doctrine of a former wide-spread diffusion of the Finnish race over the greater part of Central and Western Europe. The laborious attempts of many ingenious philologists to dis- cover traces of Ugrian affinities in the Italic and Teutonic tongues, and even to remove the Etruscan from the Aryan to the Ural-Altaic family, can scarcely be regarded as at all successful. On the other hand, a few ancient skulls presenting certain traits characteristic of the same race, together with some hatchets and other stone imple- ments picked up here and there analogous in form to those often dug up in Finland, offered far too flimsy ma- terials to supply a solid basis for such a vast superstruc- ture. Hence it is not perhaps surprising that in the light of further investigation and more serious research the theory should prove to be somewhat visionary. History had already pointed out that during the ascendency of the Goths from the Baltic to the Euxine the Finns were found nowhere to the west, but only to the east and north of that line; in fact in their present homes on the Volga, in Finland, round about the great Russian lakes, and more recently along the southern shores of the Gulf of Finland. It might doubtless be argued that at this period the race had farther west been already absorbed by the Slavs and Teutons of Aryan stock, intruders from Asia. But no reliable data can be appealed to in support of this position. The authenticity of the stone hammers and other objects of Oriental form said to have been found in France and elsewhere is now questioned, while the philological argument never gets beyond the purely etymological stage. Hence Gustavus Retzius adopts the view now fast gaining ground, that instead of being the aborigines of Western and Central Europe, the Finns are amongst the most recent arrivals from Asia. Their own traditions point to the Altai region as their true home; the national usages and the spirit of the popular songs embodied in the great epic, the Kalevala, are all Asiatic rather than European, and the uninterrupted stream of their migra- tions westwards may still be clearly followed from their most advanced outposts in the Scandinavian peninsula through Finland, along the Volga and Kama valleys, over the Urals, and up the Obi basin to the probable cradle of their race in the Sayan highlands. : The narrower, though scarcely less interesting question of the position of the Finnic branch in the Ural-Altaic family is still surrounded with difficulties, which seem to be intensified rather than removed by the conclusions of M. Retzius. While the Finnish language is no doubt fundamentally connected with those of the other members of the group, the physical features of the race present x “Finska Kranier.” Skildrade af Gustaf Retzius, Stockholm, 1878. 180 NATURE | Dec. 25, 1879 many striking deviations from the ordinary Mongol standard. The elder Retzius had long ago distinguished four more or less marked ethnical groups in Finland itself, apart altogether from the intruding Swedes, Russians, and other foreigners. These, however, are now reduced to two only, which a careful investigation of the materials supplied by archzology, tradition, the Norse Sagas, the old national songs and philology, com- bined with an extensive study of a vast number of crania and living subjects, have enabled the younger writer to fix with some approach to precision. Of the two, the Tavastian and the Karelian, he regards the latter as the genuine national type, in this differing from the commonly received opinion. The Karelians, occupying the country more to the east, are of slighter build, but better proportioned and taller than the Tavastians, of a light brown complexion, with longer head; narrower and less heavy features, long, straight, and pointed nose, dark hazel eyes, chestnut or dark hair falling in ringlets over the shoulders, open and animated expression, though still with a serious cast. The Tavastian, on the contrary, is of a much more solid, compact, and coarse build, middle size, light or ashy complexion, but always lacking the rosy tints peculiar to the Teutonic peoples, with straight silken hair of a flaxen colour, and often yellow at the tips, broad square head, short snub nose, dilated nostrils, slightly oblique greyish blue eyes, sullen and unsympathetic expression, This description obviously corresponds far more closely with the common Mongoloid type than does that of the Karelians. Yet in the writer’s opinion the latter are the true descendants of Illmarinen, the hero of the Kalevala, and the scene of his exploits is laid in the region still occupied by them. The Tavastians he regards as a distinct ethnical element of doubtful affinities, though allied on the one hand with the Esthonians of the Baltic provinces, on the other possibly with the Lapps of the Arctic regions. The question, as already remarked, has been advanced one stage; but much remains to be done before we can expect to see all the difficulties removed by which it is surrounded. Meanwhile it seems impossible to agree with M. Retzius, that the Karelians, rather than the Tavastians, represent the true Finnish type. Both have, no doubt, largely absorbed foreign elements. But if both are alike branches of the Mongolo-Tatar family, as has been hitherto supposed, and as their speech appears to place beyond question, it follows that of the two the Tavastians must be regarded as the nearest to the common stock, The Karelians are, of course, much the finer race, both physically and intellectually, and national prejudice may, therefore, feel inclined to regard them as the purer branch. But, ethnologists will probably be disposed to look on the improvements as due rather to a greater absorption of foreign elements, Teutonic or Slay, if not Lithuanian. They occupy a country which may well have been peopled by some of these races before their arrival, whereas the dreary lacustrine region of Tavastland must have been all but destitute of inhabitants previous to its occupation by the advanced wave of Finnish migration. A. H. KEANE RESEARCHES ON TELEPHONE VIBRA- TIONS R. RUDOLPH KONIG, the well-known constructor of acoustical apparatus, has recently brought before the Physical Society of Paris a research of the highest interest, upon the difference of phase which exists be- tween the vibrations of a transmitting and a receiving telephone. In a paper published more than two years ago, Prof. du Bois-Reymond discussed the conditions which determine the intensity and the phase of different sounds transmitted telephonically ; and from theoretical considerations deduced the conclusion that sounds of low pitch suffered greater loss by transmission than shrill ones, and that every simple vibration was retarded in phase by a quarter of an undulation. The former of these actions would produce an ‘alteration in the timbre of the voice as received at the end of the line: the latter effect would remain unappreciated by the ear, since the retarda- tion of phase was the same for waves of all periods. More recently Helmholtz has attacked the question in a paper in the Axnalen of Wiedemann (“Telephon und Klangfarbe”), and, with a theoretical treatment of the question based upon somewhat deeper analysis, has de- duced the results that all sounds are weakened by trans- mission in almost a constant proportion irrespective of their pitch, and that the difference of phase between the vibrations of transmitter and receiver are very small. Dr. Kénig has endeavoured to put these conflicting speculations to the test of experiment, and with marked success. It may be well, perhaps, to indicate the elementary con- siderations which led du Bois-Reymond to predict the existence of this hitherto unobserved difference of phase. The currents by which sounds are carried from the trans- mitter to the receiver in the Bell telephone are induction currents, excited in a coil of insulated wire by the vibra- tions of the iron diaphragm in front of the permanent magnet which serves asacore. The intensity of these induced currents is greatest when the vibrating diaphragm is moving with the greatest velocity. But the maximum velocity of the diaphragm does not occur at the moment when the displacement of the diaphragm is greatest. To non-mathematical readers this fact may be explained by reference to the movements executed by a simple pendu- lum. As the pendulum swings backwards and forwards the “bob” comes absolutely to rest at the moment when its displacement to one side or the other is the greatest, and it moves with the greatest velocity when it passes through the “point of rest” mid-way between its two extreme positions. Mathematically, the matter is equally simply stated. The displacement of a body executing a simple harmonic motion is determined by an equation of the form uw = a@cos ant, where the values of # pass through a regular series of maximum and minimum values as ¢in- creases. These successive values are geometrically represented by the heights of the ordinates of the well-known harmonic curve or sinusoid, the distances along the horizontal axis O x being proportional to the times. Thus the telephone diaphragm originally at rest begins to move towards the magnet under the in- fluence of the voice. The displacement, which at the origin is nothing, increases until at A it becomes a maximum. Owing to its elasticity the diaphragm flies back, and passing rapidly through its point of starting suffers a displacement in an opposite sense. These movements are graphically represented on the harmonic curve by the passage of the curve across the axis at B to its minimum or greatest negative displacement at C, the curve recurring from the point D. Now the equation which represents the velocity of the moving point will be obtained from the equation of the displacement by dif- ferentiating with respect to time. This gives us an equa- tion of the form— 2aT7 .- 4 ont 2aTv. (2mrt T “= = age CBee cos (725 —j}, At a a 2 * | Dee. 25, 1879] which is, neglecting the constant coefficient of amplitude, geometrically represented by another harmonic curve of identical form, but shifted on so that it begins at a point a, or a quarter of the length of the curve 0 0 from the origin, In this second curve the heights of the ordinates represent the varying velocities of the diaphragm, the velocity being nothing at @ when the displacement at A is a maximum, and being at a maximum at é when the diaphragm in flying back passes through its point of rest or has no dis- placement. Now of these two curves the former corre- sponds in phase to the movement of the diaphragm of the transmitting telephone, while the second curve corresponds to the variations of velocity, and therefore of the current transmitted, and consequently also corresponds to the motions of the diaphragm of the receiving telephone. Hence it is easy to understand that there exists a differ- ence of phase of one-quarter of an undulation between the movements of the diaphragms of the transmitting and receiving telephones, which will be either a retardation or an apparent acceleration of phase according to the sense in which the transmitted currents traverse the coil of the receiving telephone. These considerations apply only to the telephone of Bell or its modification by Gower, in which the vibrations of the transmitting diaphragm gene- rate the current. They do not apply to the transmitters of Edison and Hughes, which merely regulate the current. In these instruments the strength of the current is pro- portional to the displacement, not to the velocity; hence there is no retardation of phase. The memoir of Helmholtz, which, by introducing certain considerations respecting the mutual inductive actions exer- cised upon one another by the individual turns of wire in the coil of the telephone, arrived at a somewhat different con- clusion, and was principally devoted to the question of the timbre of the transmitted sounds. The previous researches in physiological acoustics of this distinguished physicist had shown that differences of phase affecting individual tones of a compound “clang” do not produce any effect which the ear can detect. This important law the present writer has, however, shown elsewhere to be true only when one ear receives the sound, and to hold no longer in the case of binaural hearing. The equations of Helmholtz indicated the unexpected result that the difference of phase between the vibrations of transmitter and receiver was a quantity so small that practically it might be alto- gether disregarded, and he arrived at the conclusion that all sounds were transmitted by the telephone with an equal proportionate degree of intensity independent of their pitch, and therefore with unaltered timbre. Here again, how- ever, the writer of this article has shown that the relation between the thickness and diameter of the vibrating diaphragm affects the distribution of the magnetism in- duced in it by the magnet, as to whether it is lamellar or radial in character, and that this distribution has influence on the timbre of the sound emitted by the receiving telephone, the notes of higher pitch being better given by the disk in whose magnetisation the lamellar distribution preponderates, while the lower ones are better given with a preponderating radial magnetisation. The whole ques- tion of timbre of the emitted sounds requires further careful study. The experiments which M. Kénig has executed entirely confirm the @ Zréort reasoning of du Bois-Reymond as to the existence of a difference of phase. Instead of using two vibrating diaphragms, Dr. KGnig takes two tuning- forks accurately tuned to unison, each of them being placed in front of the magnet ofa telephone whose disk has been removed, and which are united in the usual manner by wires. The first of the forks being set into vibration with a violin-bow, the second immediately begins to vibrate. The phase of each of the forks is next ob- served. This has been done in several ways: firstly, by direct comparison of each fork in turn with the vibration- microscope ; secondly, by applying the well-known optical NATURE 18r method of Lissajous, compounding together the two vibra- tions rectangularly by throwing a ray of light on to small mirrors attached to the two forks, and reflected from one to the other and then on toa screen. The figure thus pro- duced exhibited unmistakably a difference of phase of an exact quarter of an undulation, A further experiment on compound tones was made with the same general arrange- ments ; two forks, differing by three octaves, being made to take up, one as transmitter the other as receiver, sounds whose higher vibrations were eight times as rapid as the fundamental tone. Here again the difference of phase experimentally found for the higher tone was one quarter of a vibration. Incidentally two very important facts have been ob- served by Dr. KGnig. In experimenting he found that a tuning-fork, vibrating in front of the magnet of a tele- phone whose circuit ts closed, comes to rest in a much shorter time than the same fork vibrating freely away from the telephone; also that this weakening of the sound is greater in proportion as the distance of the fork from the pole of the magnet is smaller, and also is greater for small amplitudes of vibration than for large ones. These results are not without interest in their bearing upon Mr. Edison’s recent attempt to construct a dynamo- electric machine, in which the moving parts should be attached to a large vibrating tuning-fork instead of to a rotating axis. Doubtless the inventor's idea was to get rid of the friction accompanying rotation; for, as the vibrations of the tuning-fork are very nearly simple har- monic motions, and as the simple harmonic motion is the only type which can be propagated without loss by friction through a body, the motions of whose parts are coincident in phase, it might be anticipated that there would be less waste of energy in a “harmonic’’ engine than in a rota- tory one. The important fact however remained behind that by far the greatest part of the work of driving a dynamo-electric machine was not spent in overcoming friction, but in doing the work of moving closed con- ductors across a magnetic field, a work which, to produce an equal amount of current, requires equal power, whether the motion be one of rotation or of “ harmonic” vibration. Many years ago Foucault demonstrated the reality of this resistance to motion by spinning his gyroscope between the poles of an electromagnet; and with a Gramme machine, and also with a Holtz machine, the increased effort necessary to sustain rotation when work is being done is a familiar fact. Dr. Kénig has now demonstrated the existence of a similar phenomenon in the case of the vibrations of the tuning-fork, which comes much sooner to rest when it is doing electrical work than when it is doing no work. SILVANUS P. THOMPSON ON THE EOCENE FLORA OF BOURNE- MOUTH * several previous occasions these columns hare called attention to the eocene plant remains ob- tained at Bournemouth, The Palzontographical Society has undertaken their publication, but as this must be spread over many years, it may not be undesirable to note from time to time the principal additions to the flora as they come to light. The specimens which I have collected this year may reach about a thousand. Among the more important are two from the marine beds east of Boscombe. One is a portion of the stem of a cactus measuring two feet three inches by three inches, showing eighty bosses of spines cleared from the matrix. A section which I have made of this presents a flattened ellipse in which the pulp is replaced by sand and the woody stem has sunk down to the lower side, though still preserving the characteristic radiating structure. The cuticle is now thin and glossy black, and bears the spines, varying from two to a dozen on each boss, arranged in the usual spiral 182 NATURE > (Dee. 25, 1879 order. Heer described similar spines from Bovey as those of a palm, notwithstanding that the regularly spiral arrangement of the clusters is perfectly shown in Mr. Fitch’s drawings. The second of the specimens is the largest of several branches with leaves, of a Sequoia-like conifer, which abounds in the higher beds east of Bournemouth Pier, yet has not been found in those west of it. The foliage and branching might be almost equally taken for Segwoza gigantea, Araucaria Cunninghami, Creptomeria japonica, or Arthrotaxis selaginoides. The stem is slightly curved and does not branch for ten inches, but then forks into six slightly diverging branchlets, each some six inches long. Two of these terminate in swollen buds which would perhaps have borne cones, and another ends in a compact cluster of budding needles without any swelling, and might have produced the male flower. This branch- let, and the great number of others that have been formed with it, were evidently shed from the trees exactly as they are seen to fall from the similar conifers at Kew. Nothing beyond branches clothed with leaves have been found, and we have only the peculiar Araucaria-like swelling of some of the terminal buds to guide us. On the other hand, branches very strongly resembling these have been found by Baron Ettingshausen at Haring with Sequoia cones attached. I think however that this re- semblance to Sequoia should not at present have too much yalue attached to it, because both genera appear to have lived contemporaneously, perhaps from Oolitic times, until the present day. e Ettingshausen has detected what he considers the flower and a scale of Sequoia among the specimens just obtained from the Lower Bournemouth beds, so that the view I put forward that some of the coniferous twigs associated with Bovey ferns were identical with Seguvoza Couttsie of Bovey is somewhat confirmed. It is again most fortunate that I was able last year to obtain a twig of one of the commonest Alum Bay conifers, formerly referred to Taxites, Cupressites, &c., with the peculiar fruit of Podocarpus, recognised by Dr. Carruthers, attached to it, and it now seems probable that there are several distinct podocarps in our eocenes. The remains of palm obtained this year are few but instructive. I was fortunate in obtaining from a small isolated patch of clay imbedded in sand, the spathe of a palm; a slab ten inches square covered with over twenty fruit stalks; and about eighteen inches of the upper part of the broad pinna of a feather palm. There is hardly room to doubt that these all belong to the same species, and its accurate determination in that case is a matter of almost certainty. One exceptionally large fossil dicotyledon was obtained. This is a peltate, bluntly lobed leaf fifteen inches long from the foot of the leaf stalk to the tip, and ten inches across, and is considered by Ettingshausen to be near | Cecropia. Another striking specimen is not only a perfectly new, but one of the finest ferns yet discovered. My attention was called to it by a lady, who was watching my work and whose quick eye caught sight of the unusual venation even before I did, and we gradually brought to light an almost perfect palmate pinna, large enough to occupy a plate in the monograph now being published by the Palzontographical Society. The position of the sori bodering each lobe is distinctly traceable, and this character with its membranous texture and very slender rachis place it almost unmistakably in Adiantum, while the anastomosing veins further define it as belonging to the sub-genus Hewardia, now confined to tropical America. I am the more pleased with this discovery since small mutilated fragments had already attracted my attention and been figured, without our possessing any satisfactory clue to their identity. I have named it Hewardia regia. ios Or possibly Lindsaa, sub-genus Schizoloma. While on the subject of ferns, I am pained to have to refer again to a statement I made in this paper with re- spect to the well-known eocefte representative of Osmunda javanica. The Rev. Prof. Heer cannot take the expression of an opinion different to his own, in the spirit in which it is meant, however courteously it may be expressed, and.I regret that I have hitherto had the misfortune to feel compelled to differ from his con- clusions upon almost every subject. In a footnote to a small pamphlet entitled ‘‘Die Aufgaben der Phyto- Palzontologie,” which was only accidentally brought under my notice, he replies in a manner which renders further discussion impossible. He affects to suppose that I,a much younger man, would venture to differ from him with- out having reasons founded on new and positive data to justify my doing so. I select one of the instances in which he thinks proper to tell me I do not speak the truth, not because this one is more easy of proof, but because it imme- diately concerns my present work for the Paleeontographi- cal Society. I have accurately traced the figure of what he calls Pecopieris lignitum, the figure of his Dryandra vigida, and a piece of a fossil Osmunda from Bourne- mouth, They are so like each other and unlike anything else that nothing need be added. Heer’s voluminous works _ Dryandra rigida, Heer (Skopau). Aspidium lignitum, Heer (Skopau). Osmunda lignitunt (Bournemouth). has certainly not tended to simplify the determination of this particular fossil. He had described it as Aspidium lignitum,: Dryandra rigida? and Pecopteris lignitum,3 supposing it to be a Hemitelia, and not until two years after Stur + had proved it to be an Osmunda, does it appear in one of his works, without further explanation, as Osmunda lignitumS Yet the fossil agrees with the well-known O. javanica, which ranges from Kamschatka to Java, so exactly, and in such minute particulars (as detailed in the second part of our monograph upon ferns, in course of publication) that it seems impossible to excuse such a series of mistakes. With unexampled carelessness he has permitted the lithographer, in every one of the works. quoted, to distort and make the leaf an impossible one by colouring the lower pair of veins as if they were the margins of the leaf. Having decided, in his own mind, in describing the flora of Bovey Tracey, that this Os- munda was a tree fern, he connected with it, stems, young shoots, and what he calls rhizomes, which never belonged to it, the latter resembling the stem of the Australian grass tree. Two very characteristic statements are founded on this erroneous belief, one that “in the shade of the forest throve numerous ferns, one species of which (Pecopteris lignitum) seems to have formed trees. of imposing grandeur,” the other, that z#s stems with those of Sequoia “certainly contribute the greatest amount of lignite.” The real facts are that this was not at all an atborescent fern, and that no vestiges even of the trunks of 1 “ Beitrag zu naher. Kennin. d. Sachs-thiiring. Braunkfl.” (PL ix. Fig. 2) 2 Idem. (Pl. x. Fig. 15.) 3 Phit. Trans. vol. clit. p. 1047, 1861. A 4 O. Grutschreiberi, Stu». Jahrbuch kk. geol.-Reichsanstalt, vol, Xx. PQ. 5 Jahrbuch der k, ungar.-geol. Anstait, vol. ii, 1872. : “Dec. 25, 1879] tree-ferns have ever been found in Englisheocenes. Inthe same way on the evidence of three seeds, which he supposes to be grape stones, and some cactus spines, we read that “the trees of the ancient forest were evidently festooned with vines, beside which the prickly Rotang- palm twined its snake-like form.’’ Indeed, in addition to the error he committed in calling them miocene, all Heer’s determinations of the Bovey Tracey plants require revising. The Alum Bay leaf bed, familiar to geologists for twenty or thirty years, appears at last to have almost given out, for the leaf bearing pipe-clay is washed away to such an extent that a fortnight’s stay scarce yielded a dozen of the commoner leaves. The unusual rainfall has also nearly obliterated the Hempstead section, and the face of the hill resembles a glacier of mud, which has carried trees and bushes, in place of rocks, into the sea. A lady, my brother, and myself had the misfortune to select that route home, returning from Gurnet Bay when darkness was coming on. The only passage over the deep and perfectly soft mud streams lay through the dead brushwood which fringed them. The tide was high on one side, and up the escarpment on the other lay mud and brushwood of the most impenetrable character, while with a tide still rising and darkness increasing, it appeared as hopeless to attempt to retrace our steps as to press on. u The following, from my note-book, has even less con- nection with fossil leaves, but the experience may be of use to geologists visiting the district. At Alum Bay a large area of weathered chalk, usually sup- posed inaccessible, can be explored without much danger, for it is almost everywhere possible to descend to the sea- level between the Needles and the beacon on Freshwater Down. The face of the cliffs is traversed by numerous faintly marked tracks, which it is difficult to suppose could ever have been of service except to smugglers, for the shore line is rocky and not used by fishermen. Those who appreciate the bolder coast scenery of our white chalk will be repaid by climbs even of 500 or 600 feet, to the perfect solitude of the water’s edge. If accompanied by ladies, a rope will be found a proper precaution and useful in lessening the exertion to them. One of the easiest ways is directly under the beacon, and there is a path down into Scratchells Bay, just inside the railing of the fort, whence at low tide the second of the Needles can be reached. At Bournemouth we had a rather narrow escape. I foresaw that during this year’s digging unusual caution would be necessary, owing to the heavy and saturated state of the cliff. I was obliged, however, to go through some fifteen feet of sand to reach a lower bed from which I expected to get pinne of Goniopteris Bunburyi. 1 had dug out a piece of this bed from end to end; a distance of about twenty feet by three or four feet wide : and the cliff above this narrow excavation consisted of some fifteen feet of vertical coarse sand, capped by indurated ironstone, and a thick black clay bed, above which the cliff sloped away at an angle. To expose a little more of the leaf bed we ventured at one point to slightly undermine the verticality of the cliff, before re- placing the sand and clay we had dug out. During a pause for lunch sand fell twice upon the leaf bed cleared for work and was shovelled off. On a sudden loose Pieces seemed to be falling all along the face of our pit, and with no more warning than an impulse to throw ourselves out of danger, huge boulders of clay and iron- stone tore by—which from their weight were afterwards immovable to us—our excavation was completely filled in, and our tools still lie buried under the dééris. I was helplessly buried for a few minutes up to my shoulders in sand, anticipating another slip, which fell soon after i was extricated. J. STARKIE GARDNER NATURE 183 RECENT EXPERIMENTS ON RADIATION XPERIMENTS on radiation have a twofold interest. Accurate measurements of the increase of radiation due to an increase of temperature have of course a great theoretical value, but in addition to this, there is the practical question of a possible measure of temperature by means of the radiation of a body. It is this practical question with special reference to the temperature of the sun which seems chiefly to induce experimenters to study the subject with improved methods. It has led at any rate Mr. Rossetti to furnish a most valuable contribution to the study of radiation.* Newton was the first to give a formula connecting the quantity of heat radiated by a body with the temperature of the body ; but his formula was not sufficiently accurate, and has been replaced by another first given by Dulong and Petit. But Dulong and Petit’s formula also breaks down when the difference of temperature between the radiating body and the inclosure is large. Mr. Rossetti, trying to improve on Dulong and Petit’s formula, deduces from his experiments the following for the radiation of lampblack :— y=aT?(T- 6) —45(T —- 6, where y is proportional to the thermal effect of the radia- tion, aand dare constants, and Zand @are the temperatures of the body and the inclosure, as measured on the abso- lute scale. This formula seems certainly to be as far superior to Dulong and Petit’s as this latter was to Newton's. The last term generally is but small compared to the first, and Mr. Rossetti believes it to be due to the effect of the surrounding air, although we do not quite see how this can be. The following experiments prove how accurately the formula may be made to represent the facts. The constants @ and 6 were obtained by measuring the radiation of a Leslie’s cube filled with water or mercury, and gradually heated up to 300°. A piece of copper foil covered with lampblack was then heated in a flame of alcohol. The temperature of the flame lies between 390° and 400°; and two numbers obtained by means of the above formula were found to lie between these limits. The radiation of a red hot copper sphere was then deter-. mined, and its temperature independently measured by means of a calorimeter. The temperatures obtained by the two methods were 762°'1 and 763°°6 respectively. In order to find the temperature of the copper sphere account was of course taken of the emissive power of copper as compared with lampblack. For this purpose, Mr. Rossetti has invented an ingenious method to deter- mine this emissive power of various metals at the tempera- ture of the Bunsen flame. That a formula obtained by means of experiments made between 0° and 300° C. should give such accurate results for a temperature of 760° is already a good proof for the usefulness of the formula, but Mr. Rossetti has pushed his verification even further. A cylinder of oxychloride of magnesium was heated in a flame of coal-gas and oxygen. The temperature was found to be about 960°, and in a flame it was found to be 2,167° and 2,397° in two experiments. Platinum melted easily in the flame, and hence the temperature could not have been far wrong. ‘ Before Mr. Rossetti can apply his formula to determine the sun’s temperature, he has to determine the absorptive effect of our atmosphere ; but we shall not enter here into this part of the question. The sun’s effective temperature is the temperature he would have, if he had the emissive power of lampblack. Mr. Rossetti finds this effective temperature by his formula to be a little below 10,000° C. Taking account of the fact that the sun himself is sur- rounded by an absorbing atmosphere, and accepting some data given by Secchi for the amount of this absorption, the temperature of the photosphere is found to be above 20,000° C. 2 Reale Acc. dei Lincei (3) IT. 6 Jan. 1873. 184 NATURE [Dec. 25, 1879 Prof. Langley’s observations* were chiefly made with the view of shewing that the low estimates of the solar temperature which have recently been made on the basis of Dulong and Petit’s formula must be wrong. Prof. Langley compared directly the heat and light received by the sun with that received by the hottest luminous source he could find. He chose the mass of liquid steel obtained in the Bessemer process. The result was that the solar heat radiation was at least eighty-seven times as strong as that of the liquid mass. It is impossible to compare this result directly with the values obtained by Mr. Rossetti ; but a rough idea of a fair agreement may be obtained. Mr. Rossetti fround the solar radiation to be about forty times as strong as the radiation of a lampblack body in the hottest oxyhydrogen flame he could obtain, Taking account of the emissive power of iron, we find that the radiation of the molten steel must have been a little more than half that of a black body in the oxyhydrogen flame which is possible. Prof. Langley also compared the intensity of light sent out by his two sources, and naturally found a much larger difference. We do not agree with Prof. Larigley’s remark that the solar light radiation is a more trustworthy indication of the total difference between the sum of all degrees of radiant energy than the heat. In fact the heat radiation is the only correct indication of the total radiant energy. Another interesting contribution to the study of radia- tion was lately made by Mr. Nichols.2 Mr, Nichols heated a platinum wire to successive degrees of incandes- cence by an electric current, and compared the intensity of the luminous radiation in different parts of the spectrum with the incandescence of another platinum wire kept at a constant temperature by means of an electric current. There is a great experimental difficulty in determining the temperatures of the wires, and Mr. Nichols had to content himself with measuring simply their increase in length. Matthiessen’s formula will give an approximate idea of the real temperature, but it must be left to future measurements to decide how far Matthiessen’s formula can be applied to high temperatures. The chief part of Mr. Nichols’ work consists therefore in finding the luminous radiation of platinum, not on an absolute scale, but in terms of an in- candescent platinum wire of fixed but unknown tempera- ture. In order to reduce his measurements to an absolute scale Mr. Nichols compared the radiation of his standard with the luminous radiation of the sun, and then employed Lamansky’s measurements of the heating effects of different parts of the solar spectrum. The solar spectrum is however a bad medium of comparison, owing to its discontinuous character. There is, for instance, such a strong atmospheric absorption near D that the radiation of the region near D is seriously weakened; which weakening is entirely dependent on atmospheric con- ditions, and therefore makes comparisons taken at different times illusory. Thus the final curves obtained by Mr. Nichols for the absolute radiation of platinum wire at different temperatures show a discontinuity near D which is evidently produced by the above-mentioned cause, especially as Mr. Nichols did not use sunlight, but light reflected from clouds. Mr. Nichols also tries to deduce from his experiments the fact that platinum a little below its melting point has a much larger absorbing power than at ordinary tempera- tures. The whole argument rests however on the assump- tion that the temperature of a platinum wire is the same as that of a lampblack body when the relative intensity of red and blue light given out by the lampblack body is the same as that given out by the platinum wire. That is to say, Mr. Nichols assumes that the emissive power of platinum is the same for rays of all refrangibi- lities. But it is evident from Mr. Nichols’ own measure- ments that the temperature of a petroleum flame (used by 2 Proceedings of the American Academy. f 2 “Ueber das von glithendem Platin |ausgestrahlte Licht,’’ E. L. Nichols, Gittingen: E. A. Huth.) Mr. Nichols) determined in this way is found much too high. It does not require a large correction in this temperature to bring the value of reflective power of platinum at the temperature and by Mr. Nichols to the same value as that found by Provostaye and Dessains for ordinary temperatures. In the memoir of Mr. Rossetti, an idea of which we have tried to give above, this reflecting power of platinum is directly measured at a temperature of the Bunsen flame, and was found to be strikingly in accordance with the number given by Provostaye and Dessains. ARTHUR SCHUSTER NOTE ON A CONSOLIDATED BEACH IN CEYLON A SOMEWHAT interesting consolidated beach exists on the west coast of Ceylon, a few miles to the north of Colombo. The writer had only one opportunity of visiting and examining for a short time this formation : but there are certain features in connection with it that cannot fail to be of interest, however short the examina~ tion may be. The beach extends continuously in almost a straight line for about four or five miles, and is manifestly in process of formation at the present time, as some portions of it are so soft that they can be easily crumbled in pieces by the hand, whilst others are much harder than gneiss, and can only with the greatest difficulty be fractured by means of a heavy hammer. Between these extremes are all gradations of hardness, and the ordinary shells of the coast may be found in almost every part of the beach more or less firmly embedded in the rock. The highest part of the formation is just within reach of the waves at high tide ; but it is difficult to ascertain with any degree of accuracy how far it extends into the sea, on account of the difference between high and low tide being only about two feet. The beach is seen at a glance to be composed chiefly of a faint brownish-coloured rock, with frequent strata of black material of very varied thickness and irregular shape. Anexamination of specimens shows that the brown rock is composed almost entirely of quartz fragments, and that it possesses only a low specific gravity (2'91), whilst the darker portions are extremely heavy as well as extremely hard. Several specimens gave a specific gravity of 3°9, 3°93, 3°94, the dried sand, freed from its carbonate of lime by means of dilute hydro- chloric acid, possessing a specific gravity of 4°32. A microscopic examination of this sand and also of sections of the rock showed that the chief constituent, and that which gave it its dark appearance, was magnetite, corundum in various forms being also present, with here and there a fragment of quartz. One noticeable point was that the fragments of the harder constituents were in nearly every case hardworn, and rounded, whilst the quartz showed traces of recent fracture in the shape of sharp edges and angles. The size of these fragments varies very considerably, those of magnetite ranging from ‘oo5 inch to ‘o2 inch, whilst those of quartz are much larger, frequently reaching ‘oq inch, The corundum frag- ments are intermediate in size and rounded in form, It must be remembered that these specimens were taken from only one part of the formation, near the centre of its length and about the limit of high tide. In other posi- tions the fragments will, no doubt, vary very much, the size depending in a great measure on the power of the current to carry them along the coast and up the beach. It was a matter of regret to the writer that he was not able to inspect carefully both extremities of the reef, and examine fragments from many different portions of it. The cementing material of the beach is carbonate of lime, no doubt from the coral reefs along the coast, as there is no limestone rock in the neighbourhood or along the course of the Kelani River, which debouches to the south of the reef, It is not known whence the magnetite and corundum have been derived, except that they have EE see oe De. 25, 1879] NATURE 185 possibly come from the degradation of the gneiss rocks occurring along the coast. Although corundum is com- paratively abundant in the interior of Ceylon, it has never been found in its matrix, but always either in pocket holes in streams, or in drift, intermixed with rounded pebbles of quartz. The character of the rivers in the neighbourhood of the coast apparently precludes the possibility of fragments of corundum being carried down to the sea. A closer examination of the structure of the beach reveals the fact that the heavier particles are frequently deposited in extremely thin strata, transverse sections of which exhibit the most beautiful curves. Examples of this are seen in Figs. 1 and 2, which are half the natural size, the light parts representing quartz, the dark ones Reet Cae Fic. 1.—About one-fourth natural size. magnetite. The explanation of this is apparently simple. When the quartz fragments of which the larger portion of the rock is formed have become consolidated, depressions will be formed by the heavy particles of magnetite under the influence of the waves, very much after the manner in which pocket holes are formed in the rocky beds of nearly all the mountain streams in the island. (It was in these pocket-holes that the earlier sapphires were nearly always found.) When once commenced this scouring process would go on as long as the water was sufficiently agitated to keep the fragments of magnetite in motion. Their superior weight would have a tendency to keep them in the hollows they had formed, and the carbonate of lime in the water would fix them in position as soon as they were left undisturbed by the waves. The succeeding waves Fic. 2.—About one-fourth natural size. hat reached the hollow would fill it chiefly with quartz fragments which would become cemented together, and the process of scouring would go on as before. It may be noticed in explanation of the very beautiful skein-like appearance of Fig. 2, that when once a stratum of magnetite had become consolidated, it would be much less liable to be removed by the scouring process than the neighbouring quartz, on account of its superior hardness, and therefore the original shape of the basin has been retained, whilst other basins, represented by the dark lines, have been formed above it, differing only slightly in shape from the original one. Some portions of this beach are quarried for edging and coping stones which are sent to Colombo, R. ABBAY ON THE POTENTIAL DIMENSIONS OF DIFFERENTIATED ENERGY* [* his great work, which appears to be but little known in England, “Ueber die stille Bewegung hypote- tischer KGrper,” Prof. Hans points out that the dimen- sions of “ideal” matter may not only differ in degree, but also in kind. He deduces, by means of implicit reasoning from his three primitive “stations,” that not only must there be space of 4, 5, 6, &c., dimensions, but also that there must be space of — 1, — 3, — 5, &c., dimensions, and that there may be space of — 2, — 4, — 6, &c., dimensions. Pursuing Hans’s train of thought further, Lobwirmski has quite recently interpreted space of 1°1, 1°2, 1°3, &c., dimensions. Not only has fractional space been thus proved to exist, but the same philosopher has also conclusively shown that if space of x. — 1 exists, it has all the properties of angular magnitude; eg. like all partly bounded infinities (¢hei/weise begranzte Unend- lichketten), it is unmagnifiable. These speculations, which are really rather more hyper- physical than metaphysical, immediately suggest the analogous kinematic considerations, and have led me to examine the potential dimensions of differentiated energy. Before pointing out the main conclusion to which I have been led, let me make quite clear the meaning of the terms employed. “Differentiated energy” is that energy which would survive if all matter were destroyed, and simultaneously re-created in such a manner that all its properties were inverted. By “ potential dimension” I mean the dimension which, by reason of the kinetic energy of all other dimensions, is only able to vary according to Lobwirmski’s groove (A7e/se). Let us start from the idea of what is ordinarily con- ceived to be a Thing, and imagine the Thing itself (not its measure) to be saturated with the property a, after the manner in which the circle is saturated with the straight line in the spiral watch-spring (spirajormiger Haase- sprung einer Wacht). Further, let us suppose @ to change in such a way that all previous values of any one attribute other than those dependent on its rate of varia- tion can be arranged ina series, the functionally alternate terms of which, up to a certain number whose value will be given by taking each turn separately, and finding to what amount its @ property may, under the influence of the given “groove” exceed the a-property of its imme- diately antecedent term, represent any convenient con- verging series. The vigour of this change being, as usual, measured by the degree of matter affected, and | also by the index of change in a given time, we have at once the simple relationship 20= y Accordingly, it is obvious as one of the simplest corollaries from the above, that if we know the present position, mass, direction of motion, and velocity of a given piece of matter, we should be able within certain limits to calculate its chemical composition. As an example of the application of this let us suppose that the earth’s satellite M has the mass C; let its direction of motion at any given time gbe N. Let its rectangular co-ordinates, at the same time, measured from the absolute zero of position, be , #,and f. Let O be its velocity, and Han arbitrary constant. We have, substituting in the above equation— M = Cu Nu Os Hy , which has, at least, no closer resemblance to any other body than it has to caseine. A. v. NUDELN t The correspondent who has received the above letter has forwarded it to us for publication. We are not aware that the general scientific opinion in Germany is in consonance with the results reached in the letter. 186 NATURE [ Dec. 25, 1879 'A TIDAL PROBLEM HE so-called sezches, or alternate flux and reflux of water in the Lake of Geneva and other bodies of fresh water, have, as our readers know, formed the subject of an interesting study during the past decade by Dr. F. A. Forel, of Morges, near Geneva. Small local tides are constantly noticeable there, the difference between ebb and flow varying from a few centimetres to 2 metres. Their cause is to be traced to the wind, variations in atmospheric pressure at the extremities of the lake, &c. Dr. Forel, as the result of his in- vestigations has established a formula by means of | which the duration of a local ebb and flow can be determined—not only for the Lake of Geneva, but for any lake—when its average depth and its length are The following is the formula T = ee in Nigh which 1 denotes the length of the lake, % its average depth, and g the acceleration of gravity. This formula gives for the Lake of Geneva, which has a length of known. 73 kilometres, a duration of tide of 13 minutes; a figure coinciding with the fact. The law thus established by M» Forel has recently received an interesting application in solving a problem which has puzzled travellers and philosophers for over 2,000 years, viz., the explanation of the currents in the narrow straits of Euripus, where the famous five-arched bridge of Egripo joins the Island of Eubcea to the main- land of Greece. The currents sweeping below the bridge are so violent that mills are kept in operation by them, but they are noted for the changes in direction which occur from four to fourteen times daily. Tradition relates that Aristotle, in despair at his inability to explain this phenomenon, threw himself from the bridge into the water. A comparison of the large number of observations made upon this strange tidal movement shows that there are two distinct periods: that in which there are but four changes of direction or two tides in a lunar day of 24 hours and 50 minutes, and that in which these tides number from eleven to fourteen daily. This latter pheno- menon is observable invariably at the quadratures of the ie Gulf aE gind } oe moon. M. Forel, in his explanation, shows that the regular ebb and flow twice a day in the former period is due to the tidal movement of the A:gean Sea, which is then at its maximum. The increase in the number of tides daily becomes manifest, however, when the tidal force of the A2gean is at its minimum, viz., at the quad- ratures, and must be owing to some other force more powerful than the minimum but less powerful than the maximum force of the Aigean tide. This force is found in the local tides or seéches of the Gulf of Talanti to the north of the straits, which is so shut in by land that it can practically be regarded as subject to the same Jaws as the lakes of Switzerland and other countries. This basin is 115 kilometres long, and is from 100 to 200 »metres in depth. Applying these figures to M. Forel’s formula, the ebb and flow in the Gulf of Talanti would be for Ioo metres, 122 minutes; for I50 metres, 100 minutes; for 200 metres, 86 minutes. The eleven to fourteen currents observable daily at Euripus during the quadratures last from 103 to 131 minutes. This shows so striking a conformity with the theory advanced by the Swiss savant, that we can but consider this problem, which so vexed the ancients, as fairly solved. Dr. Forel asks intelligent visitors to the locality to verify his interpretation by attending especially to the following points:—1. Ascertain the exact duration of the flux and reflux of the Euripus, and determine its normal rhythm. 2. Ascertain if, as in the sezches of the Lake of Geneva, the amplitude of the flux and reflux of the irregular current is stronger in bad weather than when there are no atmospherical perturbations. 3. Ascertain if the connections between the direction of the current and the flow of the rising sea are, as he supposes, inverse, according as the current is regular or irregular. NOTES THE great osteological collection which Dr. Barnard Davis, F.R.S., has accumulated during a long life devoted to anthro- pological pursuits is well known, both in England and abroad, as the richest and most valuable ever formed by a private indi- vidual, exceeding, as it does, in variety and rarity of the speci- mens all the public collections of this country and most of those on the Continent, It contains about eighteen hundred specimens of skulls and skeletons of various races of men, the value of | | 4 7 ; . } ' ee ee ee OO el Dec. 25, 1879 | NATURE 187 which is greatly increased by an excellent catalogue, called © Thesaurus Craniorum,” in which each is fully described, and all known particulars of its history recorded. We believe that, at one time, Dr. Davis contemplated leaving the collection to the College of Surgeons ; but considerations for the interests of his family do not appear to have justified this arrangement, and he has now offered it for the sum of 1,000/,—which, considering its extent, and the labour and time taken in its formation, must be considered very moderate. Upon this becoming known to the Council at their meeting on December 11, through a com= munication of Prof. Flower, we learn from the British Medica Journal, it was the unanimous feeling of all present that the opportunity of acquiring it upon the terms offered by Dr. Barnard Davis should not be lost. It was referred to the Museum Com- mittee to consider and report whether the necessary sum could be provided out of the College funds, or whether it was desirable to seek for aid from other sources; for the latter alternative several liberal offers were at once made by individual members of the Council. We feel sure that all who are interested in the scientific progress of the country will have great satisfaction in knowing that the Council of the College have thus promptly stepped forward to save this noble collection from dispersion or expatriation ; and that, if it should be thought that the College funds cannot judiciously be taxed at the present time, the country will as promptly respond to an appeal for such a truly national purpose. The Hunterian Museum, thus enriched, would more than ever become the great centre of osteological and anthropo- logical research and instruction, and in the hands of Mr. Flower we may be sure that this collection would be so arranged, deve- loped, and studied as to be rendered in the highest degree available for the advancement of knowledge, It is an opportunity which must not be let pass. Tue following translation of a Chinese placard regarding the highly immoral practice of consuming cow’s milk is sent to the Foochow Herald for publication :—‘‘ Strictly refrain from eating cow’s milk ! Man should not rob the beasts of their food. More- over of all beasts the cow is the most useful and meritorious, Men who do not discriminate between mankind and beasts are worse than senseless. Those who sell milk darken their con- sciences for gain, and those who eat cow’s milk foolishly think they are benefiting their bodies. Men who take medicineshould first carefully investigate and find out its nature. Why do not those who eat cow’s milk consider and inquire into its origin? For instance, men beget children, and while the children cre small they depend upon milk for their nourishment ; so it is also with beasts. But when men buy milk to eat, do they not do injury to the life of the calf? And is there not bitter hatred and distress in the minds of both cow and calf ? Beasts cannot speak: how then are they able to tell the man that, in eating the milk of beasts, his body becomes like that of birds and beasts? But if men wish to take strengthening medi- cine, there are numberless other articles in the world that are beneficial ; and what necessity then is there for taking cow’s milk? Besides this, the death and life of men have their fixed number and limit, and this cow’s milk cannot lengthen out and continue the life of man. Since, then, all know the truth— that it cannot do this, all ought to act with loving and benevolent spirit. Especially all who receive this exhortation should keep from eating milk. The children of those who cause their families to refrain from eating milk will be preserved to grow up; they also will thus lengthen out their own lives, and will escape from evil in time of fatal epidemics, If such persons be able also to exhort others, who are ignorant of first principles, to leave off the eating of milk, their descendants shall surely prosper. Pub- lished by the Hall of Good Exhortations, The Xylographic blocks are deposited in the Ung Ling Koh.” AN important discovery has just been made in the neighbour- hood of Elbceuf, Seine-Inférieure, by M. Noury. He has found’ amultitude of pre-historic implements in the siliceous sands which form the sub-soil of the Seine valley, between Elbceuf and Rouen. Ina single locality he collected more than 400 among bones of large quaternary mammals. These implements are said to belong to the palzolithic age ; they consist of cut flints forming axes, cores, punches, and hammers of various dimen- sions, WITH reference to the discovery of a jade scraper at Geneva, referred to in NATURE, vol. xxi. p. 163, Prof. Max Miiller writes to the 7imes :—‘‘ Scrapers or cutting instruments made of reab jade are very rare, in Switzerland and elsewhere, but I have my- self seen several beautiful specimens—among the rest, one found by Dr. Uhlmann, of Miinchen-buchsee, whose collection of lacustrine antiquities, all taken out by his own hand from one and the same small lake, the Moossee-dorfsee, is perhaps the most authentic and most instructive collection in the whole of Switzerland.” Prof. Miiller does not see any difficulty in believing that the early “ Aryan” immigrants into Europe brought with them and preserved, ‘‘from generation to generation, so handy and so valuable an instrument as a scraper or knife, made of a substance which is ere Zerennius.” On the same subject Mr. B. M. Westropp sends the opinion of M. Desors, as follows :— ** We cannot share the opinion which attributes extensive come mercial relations to the tribes of the age of stone. In support of this opinion are cited the hatchets of nephrite (jade), of which numbers are found at Concise and other stations of that epoch ; and as this stone now comes to us from the East, it has been inferred that the tribes of the remote period in question trafficked with Asia, But it should be remembered that the greater part of the hatchets which are assumed to be nephrite may very well be only varieties of indigenous rocks, proceeding from siliceous veins in the serpentine, and whose depository might be found, according to M. de Mortellet, in the higher Maurienne. It seems to us very difficult to admit that so distant a commerce should’ have been restricted to the exchange :of certain stones, which, after all, are not very superior to common silex, while the East might have furnished objects of far greater utility, particularly metals,” Once more the New York correspondent of the Daily Mews tele- graphs of Mr, Edison’s success in electric lighting. ‘‘Mr. Edison,” we are told, ‘‘ has perfected an electric lamp of extraordinary sim- plicity, costing only 25 cents, with which he proposes a general illumination of the village of Menlo Park on New Year’s Eve. He has discovered that a steady brilliant light is obtained by the incandescence of mere carbonised paper better than from any other known substance, Strips of drawing paper in horse-shoe- form are placed in a mould and baked at a very high tempera- ture. The charred residuum is then attached to the platinum wires and hermetically sealed in a glass globe from which the air has been exhausted. This attached to a wooden stand, or ordinary gas fixtures, is the whole lamp. No regulating apparatus is required, the flow of electricity being automatically increased and diminished at the central generating station. A single generating machine of simple construction, and applicable for domestic use, supplies about fifty lamps. The cost of the power is not stated. The quantity of electricity supplied to each, householder is measured by the deposit of copper particles in an electrolytic cell,” M. A. GuyARD claims to have discovered another new metal of the platinum group which he names uralium, from the Ural Mountains, whence the ore is procured, There have been quite a flood of similar announcements lately. We have now gallium, davyum, mosandrum, neptunium, decipium, phillipium, nor- 138 NATURE [ Dec. 25, 1879 $$$ vegium, scandium, ytterbium, holmium, ‘‘X,” thulium, and uralium, Chemists will have to keep as narrow a watch on these minor elements as our astronomers do upon the minor planets, or we shall not know where we are. In a paper on the destruction of obnoxious insects, by Prof. Hagen, of Harvard, in which he describes some experiments that had been made by Mr. J. H. Burns and others, he comes to the following conclusions :—1. That the common house-fly is often killed by a fungus, and that in epizootics a large number of insects which live in the same locality are killed by the same fungus. 2, That the fungus of the house-fly works as well as yeast for baking and brewing purposes. 3. That the application of yeast on insects produces in them a fungus which becomes fatal to the insects. 4. That, in the experiment made by Mr. J. H. Burns, all potato-beetles sprinkled with diluted yeast died from the eighth to the twelfth day, and that the fungus was found in the vessels of the wings. He admits that further ex- periments are necessary to find out the most convenient method of application. WooLwWICcu is taking a step ahead in the use of the electric light, a number of tradespeople in that suburb being now sup- plied by Messrs. Siemens, who have set up for that purpose three of their most powerful machines. Power is supplied from the steam-engines of Messrs. Rose and Mellish’s establishment on the river bank, when the day’s work is over. The lights are maintained from 6 P.M, till midnight. A CORRESPONDENT sends us the following account of the recent severe weather at Mulhouse ; it is contained in a letter from Mr. Alfred von Glehn :—‘‘I must give you some de- scription of the fearful weather we had last Friday (Decem- ber 5). No _one here ever remembers such a day. On Thursday night it began to rain, the thermometer being about 8° below freezing, then came lightning and thunder, and then the most terrible wind got up, with driving snow ; it lasted all night and next day. It blew a hurricane, thermometer about 20° F. below freezing, and all the time the snow fell so thick that you could not see a yard before you. I really hardly know how I got to the works; one could hardly breathe, ana at certain open places one could hardly stand, and I saw people have to turn back and take refuge in shops. No trains could run ; one was stopped between here and Bale, and the people had to come back as best they could on foot. A goods train was snowed up between here and Cernay, and was only got out on Sunday. Two factory chimneys were blown down, and numberless smaller accidents occurred. We had to allow the workmen who live in the country to start for their homes at three o’clock in the afternoon, as at night it would have been impossible for them to find their way. Everywhere in the streets stood carts aban- doned by their owners, as the horses could not move them. One train was got ready for Strassburg, with four engines, but it stuck just outside the station, and could go no farther. The next day the weather was fine and cold. Sunday night the thermometer fell to 40° F. below freezing, and at 12 o’clock in the middle of the day with a bright sun stood at o° F. This morning it went down to 51° F. below freezing, and when I went to the works it was only a few degrees less. The air is fortunately still, and as there has been bright sunshine every- thing is wonderfully beautiful. Skating is unfortunately out of the question, owing to the masses of snow. Sledges are to be seen on all sides, even the cabs are mostly sledges, and those who haye horses are to be envied,.as the roads are in a splendid state.” Tue Derry Fournal of the roth inst. states that on the pre- vious Saturday, at about 11,30 P.M., the inhabitants of Stranorlar, county Donegal, and for many miles around, were startled with a strange and unusual sound. It resembled the noise produced by the falling in of a large building, and in some cases the commotion was so powerful that chair$ and other household articles were seen to move. The phenomenon is believed to be a slight convulsion of earthquake, and much resembled distant thunder. Mr. Thomas Watson, of Derry, writes that a similar disturbance was noticed at exactly the same hour at Barons Court, the seat of the Duke of Abercorn, in county Tyrone, and was sufficiently intense to cause the candelabrum in one of the large rooms to shake very perceptibly, the noise at the same time being very loud, and of a nature that puzzled those who heard it to explain. It seems to have been in some way connected with an earthquake wave which appears to have taken’ the direction almost east and west. In a recently-received report from Guayaquil, it seems that the bad season of 1878 had a most serious effect upon the produce of the soil in thatcountry. The cocoa crop (Zheobroma cacao) was the smallest on record, though the high prices obtained for this article in the European markets have in some degree compensated for the loss. The coffee crops gave even a worse result, as during the last months of the year it was found necessary to import coffee from Central America for home consumption, The quality of the coffee produced in Guayaquil during the year was very inferior. The rice planta- tions having been almost entirely under water, owing to \the heavy rains, for a long period during 1877 and 1878, the production of this article of food (of which, in the coast pro- vinces of the Republic alone, 5,000 quintals per month are consumed) was very limited. The cotton plantations were also destroyed by the same cause. The failure of the above-men- tioned crops left a large number of men free to attend to the collection of india-rubber and ivory nuts, The export of the former during 1878 was a little below that of the preceding year, owing doubtless to the scarcity of the trees producing it, and the difficulties of bringing it down to the coast from the inland forests, where it is gathered, each year made more distant from the ports of embarkation owing to the continued wanton destruc- tion of the trees. The quantity of ivory nuts gathered and’ exported by far surpassed all previous years. THE Pharmaceutical Fournal of December 20 contains a valuable report on the botany of the Kuram and Hariab districts, by Surgeon-Major J. E. T. Aitchison. A NUMBER of papers on the hymenoptera and coleoptera of the United States, by Messrs. E. Norton, C. A. Blake, and Dr. Horn, are in course of publication in the Zyansactions of the American Entomological Society of Philadelphia. From the American Naturalist we learn that Thos. G. Gentry is engaged in a work on the fertilisation of plants by insects, based on observations made in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, and that Prof. O. S. Jordan is preparing a work on the Fishes of North America. A FAVOURABLE report was presented at the last meeting of the Eastbourne Natural History Society. IN a recent volume of the Ann. de l’Obs. Roy. de Bruxelles (September, 1879, 84 pp.) M. Fievez gives a comprehensive bibliography of works, treatises, and notices on spectroscopy. An index facilitates the search for any particular point relating to the subject. THE Russian Technical Society will hold an exhibition of the latest Russian and foreign technical machines, apparatus, instru- ments, and inventions, from December 15 until May 15 next, at St. Petersburg, A PAPER of great value on the Geology of the Lower Amazons, by Mr. Orville A. Derby, read before the American Philosophical Society, has been issued in a separate form. ‘ Dec. 25, 1879] : NATURE 189 THE Transactions of the Cumberland Association for the Advancement of Literature and Science for 1878-9, is a volume of 340 pages, edited by the Rey. J. Clifton Ward. Among the numerous excellent papers contained in the volume are the following:—An ethnological paper by Mr. R. S. Ferguson, entitled ‘*The Formation of Cumberland;” ‘Our Summer Visitors,” a local natural history article, by Mr. T. Duckworth} an interesting paper on the Dipper (Cimclus aguaticus) by Mr, William Duckworth; ‘‘The Entomology of the District,” by Mr. George Dawson; ‘‘The Great Lake, Lagoon or Bay of Triton,” by Mr. B. A. Irving; ‘List of Cumberland Birds in the Carlisle and Keswick Museums,” by Mr. George Dawson and the Rev. J. Clifton Ward. PHYSICAL NOTES SoME useful observations on the action of safety valves on boilers have been recently communicated to the Vienna Academy by Herr von Burg (November 13), Among other things it is proved that the authoritative directions given in different countries as to the size of safety valves are not at all adequate, and are based on erroneous conceptions. As to the cause of the small amount of lifting of the valve during escape of steam (seldom over $mm.), the author at first supposed a vibratory motion of the valve, but further study and experiment led him to the hypo- thesis that the steam jets, in lifting the yalve, do not begin to move from its middle point, but from the periphery of a circle, p, out to the circumference of the valve of radius 7; so that the pressure of steam on the under surface of the valve is composed of two parts, of which the inner, or aérostatic, is produced by the solid steam-cylinder of radius p, and the outer or weak aéro- dynamic part, by the external hollow cylinder of 7p thickness of wall. The phases of development of steam tension, and other topics, are also investigated. A SIMPLE method of perforating glass with the electric spark is described by M. Fages in a recent number of Za Nature. The apparatus required consists (1) of a rectangular plate of ebonite, its size, for a coil giving 12 ctm. sparks, about 18 ctm. by 12; (2) of a brass wire passing under the plate and having its pointed end bent up and penetrating through the plate (not further). This wire is connected with one of the poles of the coil. A few drops of olive oil are placed on the ebonite plate about the point, and the piece of glass to be perforated is superposed, care being taken not to imprison any bubbles of air. The olive oil perfectly accomplishes the object of insulating the wire. One has then only to bring down a wire from the outer pole of the coil, on the piece of glass, above the point of the lower wire, and pass the spark. By displacing the glass laterally, for successive sparks, it is easy to make a close series of holes in a few seconds, Ir has often been queried what might be the reason of the high specific heat of water. Some light has been thrown upon this problem by the recent research of a Russian gentleman of the name of Beketoff, upon the specific heat of the hydrogenium- alloy of palladium, and upon that of the hydrogen in the alloy. The specimen examined by M. Beketoff contained about half per cent. of hydrogenium to ninety-nine and a half of palladium, On examination by careful calorimetric measurements the specific heat of hydrogenium was found to be not less than 5°88; which though probably requiring correction is certainly not greater than the true value, The value should be somewhere about 6°4 by the law of atomic heat of Dulong and Petit. A VIBRATION micrometer for ascertaining with precision the amplitude of vibrations of tuning-forks and other sounding bodies was recently shown in Paris by M. Mercadier. It is an extremely simple device and can be applied to any vibrating bodies except such as possess very small mass. A small piece of thin-white paper bearing one fine black line is affixed to the body whose vibrations are to be measured. If this line is upright, it will, when caused to vibrate, present the appearance of a pale grey parallelogram, the persistence of the visual impression being perfectly definite for the extreme positions of the vibration. To ascertain the amplitude of the vibration, all that is necessary is to measure the apparent width of this minute parallelogram in a direction at right angles to the axis of symmetry of the oscilla- tions. To do this with still greater precision, M. Mercadier pro- Poses to set the line not perpendicular to the direction of the movement, but inclined to it at a small angle, and marks also upon the paper a fine scale of lines parallel to the direction of the movement and distant from one another by equal distances of one millimetre. The width of the narrow parallelogram is thus read off along a straight line, which makes a small angle with its sides, thus giving the quotient of the amplitude sought by the tangent of a small angle. Using this method, M. Mercadier showed that the vibrations of a tuning-fork ‘ interrupter,” vibrating automatically under the influence of an electro-magnet, may be regulated so as to be greater or less at will by adjusting to a greater or less distance from the prongs of the fork the electro-magnet which maintains the vibrations, Pror. Tait has abandoned the enticing speculation that the thermal conductivity of metals is inversely proportional to their absolute temperature, a conclusion to which his earlier experi- ments on the conductivity of iron seemed to’point. Many metals, indeed, present the opposite case, their conductivity increasing with the temperature. A MEANS of comparing the intensities of lights of different colours has long been desired. Until quite lately there did not even exist a means of measuring the relative intensity of two lights of the same given colour. M. Gouy has been investigating the latter point by the aid of a particular photometer, and by flames of constant brilliancy produced by the combustion of a homo- geneous mixture of coal-gas with air impregnated with saline powders, The photometer resembles in general appearance a two-prism spectroscope, having also an auxiliary collimator with a fixed lamp to serve as a standard light. In place of the usual eye-piece of the instrument a second slit is placed. By this means any one ray can be separately observed, and its intensity compared with the intensity of the same ray from the standard source. M. Gouy states that this slit eye-piece arrangement is capable of such accurate adjustment that each of the two D-lines can be separately examined and its intensity measured, Marat, the notorious hero of the first French revolution, the same who met his death at the hands of Charlotte Corday, was the author of several important essays on electricity. This fact, which is not generally known, was recently brought to notice by Mr, A. J. Frost, who is editing the catalogue of the Ronalds Library, Most of Marat’s vorks were written between 1779 and 1785, and several of them were translated into German, Marat was not the only one of the prominent figures of the time who worked in physical science. Arago, though his fame does not rest upon his political achievements, once enacted the chief part in the crowning of the statue of Liberty. “Citizen” Charles was as famous amongst the revolutionists as for his scientific attainments. Robespierre wrote an article on the lightning-conductor for the Journal des Savants; and last, but not least, Napoleon Buonaparte on many occasions dabbled in - scientific lore, and was the liberal patron of men of science. Epison’s telephone has, it is said, been successfully used over a line of 2,000 miles in length. A hunting party in Nebraska were thus enabled to converse with perfect distinctness with their friends in Pennsylvania, vi@ Chicago and the Western Union Telegraph Company’s line, GEOGRAPHICAL NOTES THE Neapolitans are preparing to fée Prof. Nordenskjold, who intends staying a short time in Southern Italy before return- ing overland to Sweden. ‘The Vega arrived at Galle on the 16th inst. We have received from Hongkong an account of the reception given to Prof. Nordenskjoéld and the officers of the Vega, on arriving at that Eastern limit of the British Empire, At the close of an official banquet at Government House, Governor Hennessy congratulated Prof. Nordenskjéld and his staff in the warmest terms. ‘* We behold,” he said, ‘‘as it were in this remote outpost of Europe, the writing of the last words in the last chapter of heroic maritime discovery.” Captain Palander brought down to the drawing-room the actual charts he had used during the voyage, and throughout the evening they were inspected by the Governor's guests with great interest. The charts were Russian ones, and one of the minor results of the expedition has been the establishment of the fact that they are not accurate, inasmuch as a great deal that was put down as land was actually sailed over by the Vega. The route was marked in red ink and pencil and showed these inac- curacies. Some specimens of the plants from the region where the Vga was so long bound up in the ice and photographs of the natives were also on the drawing-room tables. We understand 190 NATURE [ Dec. 25, 1879 ee SC Prof. Nordenskjéld, before his departure, received from his Excellency, as a present to the Vega expedition, an herbarium of the plants of Hongkong and South China, prepared by Mr. Ford, the head of the Botanical Department of the Colony. ZANZIBAR advices report that the Abbe Debaize, the French explorer, was on the I 3th of June at Ujiji, on Lake Tanganyika. He was waiting for some boats to go to the north of the lake, and meanwhile was examining neighbouring rivers and some points on the lake. At the beginning of September he expected to start for the Uzige country, there to leave a depét of mer- chandise under trustworthy men while he proceeded with the rest of his effects to Aruwimi or Stanley river, which joins the Congo, leaving there a second depét, exploring with his best men the western slope of the Blue Mountains and the region between Lakes Albert and Tanganyika, and then returning to Uzige to despatch reports and explain his further plans. THE enlarged edition of Whitaker’s Almanack for 1880 con- tains an article on geographical discovery, written in a somewhat perfunctory manner. As instances of the want of proportion observable init, we may mention the space given to the voyage of the Zsbjérn to Novaya Zemlya, and Mr. McCarthy's journey across China, the former of which was admittedly unsuccessful, while the latter, which did not occur in the period under review, added nothing whatever to our geographical knowledge. Ac- curacy hardly appears to be the writer's forte, otherwise he would hardly discourse about Mr. E. Colborne Baéer’s journey in Western China, nor would he turn one of the Portuguese African explorers’ names into Ives, not to mention his inability to make up his mind how to spell Thibet. In the course of their explorations last year in the unknown highlands of Eastern Perak, a party of Englishmen met with several small settlements of Sakis, presumably the aborigines of the peninsula, who still hold themselves aloof from the Malays, Few of these people have metal or earthenware cooking utensils, but roast their sago in large bamboos. The majority of them speak Malay, with an accent not unlike the Chinese; their own language is described as soft and guttural. Two specimens of these people—a man and a woman—on being measured, were found to be 4 feet 6 inches and 4 feet 1 inch in height, and these appeared to be about the average. The women are said to be not bad-looking, with thick lips and flat noses ; their figures are good, though rather inclined to stoutness ; and tkey have re- markably pretty little feet and hands. The dress of both sexes consists of a strip of bark about 9 feet long and 1 foot 6 inches wide, wound round the bodies. The bark used is that of a species of fig, and is very soft and pliable; there are two descrip- tions of it, obtained from different trees, one of a dirty white and the other of a reddish brown colour. THE new number of the Bu//etin of the Société Commerciale de Géographie of Bordeaux, contains an article on Cabul, and from its ‘‘ Chronique Géographique” we learn that the French Minister of Marine has ordered the Governor of Senegal to send an expeditionary column to the country between the Upper Senegal and the Niger. The object of the column will be to explore the region in order to see by actual survey and examina- tion whether the two rivers can be joined by a railway, The expedition will be accompanied by a skilled topographer, Mr. H. ConyBEarg, of the Bengal Civil Service, has pub- lished a carefully prepared report on the Pargana Dudhi, which extends from 25° 52’ 17” to 24° 21’ 21” N, lat., and from 82° 59’ 28” to 83° 28’ 7” E. long. The first portion deals almost entirely with geographical matters, and furnishes much interest- ing information respecting the various aboriginal tribes, their language, customs, and style of cultivation, &c. THE Hiogo News states that the Japanese Government has decided upon at once going on with the construction of a rail- way between Shiwotsu, at the head of Lake Biwa, and Tsuruga, a town at the head of a large bay, which will probably before long become an open port. Some high officials connected with the Board of Works are to. proceed to Tsuruga on this business without delay, It is expected that the opening of the line in question will have a most beneficial effect on the trade of the treaty port of Kobe. A large extent of rich country will be opened up to commerce, and it is probable that the whole of the produce of the silk districts to the north of Lake Biwa will be brought to Kobe for shipment to Europe. OF THE ABSORPTION OF GASES M ORE than seventy years ago Dalton made the assertion that gases, when absorbed by liquids (¢.g., water), remain only mechanically included in the latter, without losing thereby any property which belongs to themas gases. This hypothesis of the nature of absorption is opposed by astill older one—the chemical - —which considers the phenomenon as the consequence of an affinity between gases and liquids, and explains, for example, the absorption of CO, and N,O by water by the formation of HyCO3 and HNO. Since the time when these two hypotheses were started, their proof? has ‘always been attempted with the aid of the statical method ; z.¢., by the determination of the proportion in which the absorbed and absorbing bodies maintain their equi- librium under given conditions ; or, in other words, by the deter- mination of the coefficients of absorption, Mackenzie, who in this way has lately most thoroughly examined into the absorption of carbonic acid by means of a solution of salt in water, says that it would be presumptuous, on the basis of existing observations, to attempt yet to solve the problem whether absorption is a purely physical phenomenon or whether it belongs rather to the domain of the so-called chemical phenomena, After these two hypotheses there comes yet a third, set forth by Graham, according to which gases are transformed into the liquid state in the case of their absorption by bodies such as liquids, caoutchouc, or by glowing metals. This hypothesis is supported on the one hand by the circumstance, already remarked by Mitchell, that membranes of caoutchoue are most easily penetrable for those gases which are most readily capable of being rendered liquid and are most soluble ; on the other, by two assertions of Graham’s—(1) That a body in the form of a liquid penetrates another body more easily than in the form of a gas ; and (2) That liquids and such colloid substances as caout- chouc, have no pores at all, and, in point of fact, are, even ~ in the thinnest film, impenetrable, to gas2s as such, Accurd- ing to Graham, then, it is impossible tor a gas to penetrate such a substance without this conversion into a liquid state, which may or should be favoured in some measure by the chemical affinity between the gas and the absorbing substance. My researches in the domain of diffusion gradually led me to the conviction that a much nearer approach will be made to a solution of the problem of absorption if conclusions are drawn, w'th reference to the state in which gases exist in these substances from the study of the phenomena of motion, which exhibit them in their diffusion through absorbing substances. Availing myself of the kind invitation of the editor of NATURE, I shall take the liberty of here briefly describing the results which I have in this way obtained. They refer to what takes place in the case of caoutchouc. The application of the laws of the diffusion of gases through absorbing substances! to the phenomena which appear in caout- chouc shows that the quantity of gas which passes through 2 membrane of caoutchouc in a unit of time is, conditions being equal (z.c., equal surfaces of diffusion, equal thickness of the membrane, and equal difference of saturation on both sides of the membrane) in proportion to the product DS, D is the constant of diffusion of a gas in caoutchoue, and corresponds to the thermometric conductivity of a body in the theory of the conduction of heat. S is the coefficient of saturation, and is expressed by the equation— = iZ S=d, 7 in which 4, denotes the coefficient of absorption of caoutchoue for the gas under consideration at the temperature @, and ~ the pressure (in centimetres of mercury) under which the gas is. The coefficient, then, is that volume of gas reduced to o° C, and under 76cm. of mercury which can be contained in the unit or volume of caoutchoue at the given temperature and under the given pressure. It corresponds to the specific heat of the unit of volume of a substance in the theory of heat. Mitchell and Graham, during their experiments with caout- chouc, have always measured the product J S only, which can give us absolutely no explanation of the nature of the absorption of gases, and which has led Graham, as we shall see further on, to false inductions, : In order to determine the constant D, which shall form the basis of our examination, it is necessary to know the coefficient of absorption, by means of which the coefficient of saturation I Wroblewski in Wicdemann’s Axmalen, ii., 481-513. ON THE NATURE i absorption holds good for caoutchouc as well. NATURE IQI _ eanthen be ascertained. The determination of the coefficient of absorption presupposes, moreover, that the Henry-Dalton law of That this law is valid is proved by the experiments which I made several years ago on the passage of gases through membranes of caout- -chouc,? and by means of which I have shown that, at the various differences of pressure between 74 cm. and 2 cm. mercury, the quantity of gas which passes through is proportional to the actual pressure of gas upon the membrane. This relation between the quantity of gas passing through and the pressure is only fossible in the case of the coefficient of saturation being proportional to the pressure, or, in other words, when the Henry-Dalton law holds good for caoutchouc within the given limits. The absorptiometer which I have constructed for the determi- nation of the coefficients of absorption, consists of glass through- out. ais a tube which is divided into tenths of cubic centi- metres, and from which even hundredths of cubic centimetres may be read off; 4, c, and d are glass stopcocks; eis a space which serves as a receptacle for the caoutchouc, and is closed from beneath by a glass stopper which renders it air-tight when shut. The apparatus stands in a glass trough, ¢, of mercury, and is held in a vertical position by the holder 4, Its use is very simple, ‘The membranes of caoutchouc upon which our experiment is to be made, and whose specific gravity has been previously ascer- tained, is cut into strips of about Io centimetres in length, and 1°5 centimetres in breadth, dried, weighed, and introduced into the space e, The apparatus is first of all put in communication with the Jolly quicksilver air-pump by means of the stopcock c, and ispumped empty. Then both the stopcocks d and ¢ are shut, the apparatus is separated from the pump, a drop of water is intro- duced at the bottom of the tube z above the stopcock ¢, and the gas to be examined enters from above into the space inclosed by the stopcocks 4,¢, and d@, The further working of the apparatus explains itself. If the volume of gas which has been allowed to enter has been measured, and also the pressure under which it is, the stopcock d is opened, and after the lapse of from three to twelve hours, the volume of gas and the pressure is again ascer- tained. The calculation of the coefficients of absorption is made according to the known formula. I will here remark that the pressure of the gas which remains in the caoutchouc after the apparatus has been pumped free there- from can only be measured by the hundredth part of a millimetre of mercury, which at the same time is the limit of the power of action of the Jolly pump. For the experiments, red vulcanised caoutchoue of about one- third of a millimetre in thickness was employed, Its specific gravity at 15° C. was 1702685. The coefficient of absorption of the four following gases wa, * Wreblewshi in Poggendorf7's Annaien, clviii., 539-568. ascertained : nitrous oxide (N,O), carbonic acid (CO,), hydrogen and atmospheric air, It was shown that the coefficient of absorption of caoutchouc for gases, within the limits of the examination, are linear func- tions of the temperature, and that they diminish with an increase of temperature in the case of nitrous oxide and carbonic acid. The coefficient of absorption of hydrogen, on the other hand, grows larger with increase of temperature, and atmospheric air Seni a similar tendency. The coefficient of absorption is as ollows :— Ass? CS At 10°. At 159. For N,O 1°8229 1°6896 175564 Pre I*IQ9QI I‘I203 10416 oe: _ o'06I21 008157 ao AT — 0709832 O'LI710 With the assistance of these values the constant D can now be ascertained. For the description of the diffusiometer which I have constructed for that purpose and for the method of obser- vation, I must refer the reader to my paper in Wiedemann’s Annalen, vol, viii. pp. 29-52. The experiments showed that the constant D amounted to— At 12°C. For N,O : 56 ” co, ale 54 see 61 sec Nitrous oxide and carbonic acid have thus almost equal con- stants, a somewhat greater value being accorded to nitrous oxide (being the somewhat specifically lighter gas). The constant for these two gases increases with the temperature, and is at 10° 50 times smaller than D for carbonic acid in water,1 and 300,000 times smaller than the constant of free diffusion for carbonic acid and air at the same temperature and the same pressure. If the great difference in the coefficients of absorption of caoutchouc for both gases is taken into account, it is at once seen that the constant D depends neither upon the chemical nature of the gas nor upon the value of the coefficients of absorption. It can, in this case, depend only upon the physical properties of the gases, and since specific gravity is the principal property in which gases differ from each other in physical respects, the con- stant D must depend upon the specific gravity of the gases. Proof of this is afforded by the determination of the constant D 2 for hydrogen gas: it comes to 353 X 10-5 =. The constants for these three gases is thus nearly in inverse ratio to the square root of the specific gravity of the gases. If the behaviour of the nitrous oxide is held as normal, it is found that D is about 27 per cent. greater for hydrogen than it would be if the constant under consideration were exactly in inverse ratio to the square root of the specific gravity of the gas. The same variation here appears which Graham has observed in the diffusion of gases through plates of graphite. Hydrogen diffused itself through a plate of 005 centimetres in thickness— supposing the air to show its normal behaviour—about g per cent. quicker than is prescribed by the above relation. A similar variation was observed when hydrogen diffused itself in oxygen or carbonic acid instead of air, Granted that this deviation is in inverse ratio tothe specific gravity of the gas, it would, in the case of the aforesaid graphite, amount to about 23 per cent. for hydrogen in comparison with nitrous oxide. The deviation is thus with such heterogeneous bodies as vulcanised caoutchouc and compressed graphite, not only of the same direction, but also of the same order, hence there is no ground for supposing that the gas, in its passage through a non-absorbent porous partition like a plate of graphite, should change its aggregate condition, and since the dependence of the constant D of a gas upon its specific gravity can only be considered a sign of the gaseous form of the aggregate condition of the diffusing body, it follows, then, that gases cannot possibly exist in caoutchouc in a fluid form, and they retain also during their absorption by caoutchouc all the properties which belong to them as gases, Graham’s hypothesis of the nature of absorption of gases must certainly, therefore, be regarded as false, and a greater or less degree of penetrability of the layer for one or other of the gases * The constant D for CO, in water is, according to my experiment, about cm" It depends neither upon the coefficient of absorption nor upon 0000025 as a the coefficient of saturation. On the other hand it depends upon the vis- cosity of the fluid. If any body, e.g., a crystalloid or a colloid, is dissolved in water, and a more viscous fluid is thereby obtained, the constant D decreases. This constant, however, as is shown by my experiments with glycerine in water, cannot be diminished at will by increasing progressively the viscosity of the medium in which the diffusion of the gas takes place. , (See Wiede- mann’s Axnalen, vol. iv. pp. 268-277, and vol. vii. pp. 11-23.) 192 NATURE [Dec. 25, 1879 a a has nothing—as Mitchell asserted—to do with its solubility or compressibility. Just as little practicableis the chemical hypothesis upon what takes place in caoutchouc, and the absorption of gases such as nitrous oxide, carbonic acid, and hydrogen by caoutchouc must be considered as a purely physical phenomenon. AA layer of caoutchouc is, then, to be conceived as a fovous substance, endowed with powers of condensing as well as of rarefying gases whose porosity is of the same order as the porosity of graphite. The motion of the gas takes place through the pores of the caoutchouc. It is much to be regretted that Graham’s experiments upon the passage of gases through metals were so conducted, that they cannot now be calculated with the help of the laws of the diffusion of gases in absorbent substances. I have been able to calculate only those numbers which, as they are not without interest, I will here communicate. They are the constant D for hydrogen in platinum at bright red heat, and D for car- bonie oxide and hydrogen in iron at full red heat. A platinum wire absorbed at red heat 0°17 volumes of hydro- gen (taking the average of four experiments). A tube drawn out of the same mass of fused platinum, o°11 centimetres in diameter, let 489°2 cubic centimetres of gas in the minute pass through a surface of I square metre ; therefore cm? Dee sec A tube of malleable iron, 0°17 centimetres in diameter, let 0'284 cubic centimetres of carbonic oxide and 76°5 cubic centimetres of hydrogen through the square metre in the minute, Since one volume of this metal can contain four volumes of carbonic oxide, so is for this gas cm? D =0'00000002 —., sec Since the coefficient of absorption of this metal for hydrogen was less than four, so is the constant D for this gas greater than 2 0°00000054 cm, whence it follows, if there can be any com- sec parison between these two numbers, that in metals greater con- stants D belong to specifically lighter gases. It has lately been asserted by Stefan that the constant D, in both water and alcohol, is greater for oxygen and nitrogen than for carbonic acid, and that the greatest constant pertains to hydrogen. It would be, however, premature to wish to draw from his experiments any conclusions with regard to the nature of absorption of gases in fluids. Franz Exner has already shown, several years ago, that, on the passage of gases through a lamina consisting of a solution of soap in water, the interchanged volumes of two gases are directly proportional to their coefficients of absorption and in inverse ratio to the square root of their specific gravities. Hence Stefan has concluded that the constant D in fluids is in inverse ratio to the square root of the specific gravity of the gas, and that the gas molecules move by themselves and not in connection with the molecules of the fluid, which would correspond with Dalton’s views on the nature of absorption in fluids, Meanwhile, these conclusions are contradicted by the experiments of Pranghe, who has shown that the above-mentioned relation in the case of the lamina is not at all borne out when pure unboiled linseed oil is used. We see from this, then, that what takes place in the case of fluids must be much more complicated, and that we must subject the matter to a much more searching and extended inquiry before we shall be in a position to say anything definite upon the nature of the absorption of gases in liquids. S. WROBLEWSKI NOTE ON PREHISTORIC STATIONS IN CARNIOLA THE most important of these prehistoric stations is the burial- field of Klenik, near Waatsch. During the year 1878 about 250 graves, covered with stone slabs, were opened at a depth of from 4 metre to 24 metres. They contained skeletons, some remains of burnt corpses, and a great number of various objects. The bronze and other articles are very similar to those found in the well-known cemetery near Hallstadt, in Upper Austria. No Roman remains were met with, Thus there is no doubt of the pre-Roman age of these stations and cemeteries near 7 From the First Report of the Prehistorical Committee of the Vienna Academy, with 22 plates. By F. von Hochstetter and Ch. Deschmann. (Proceedings, Imper. Acad, July 3, 1879.) Waatsch. They may be ascribed with great probability to the Taurisci, a Celtic tribe, known to have worked the salt at Hall- stadt, and to have extended from Upper Austria, through Styria and Carinthia, as far as the Julian‘Alps. Strabo asserts ex- plicitly that the very ancient landing-place Nauportus (now Ober-Laibach) was a settlement of this people, and, according to him, Italian merchandise was brought by carriage from Aquileja over Mount Okra (now Birnbaumer Wald), then by the River Savus to Siscia (now Sissek) and the Danubian districts. Thus it must be admitted that before the reign of Augustus 2 much-used water-communication existed on the Save and the Laibach between Siscia and Nauportus. The tradition ascribing the foundation of Emona to the Argonauts is an indication of the very remote beginning of this intercourse. Prof. Miillner, of Marburg, has lately offered some forcible arguments to the effect that Emona did not occupy the present position of Laibach, but was at the south end of the Laibach Moor, where Brundorf and Sonnegg now stand, The graves, with skeletons, at Rojé, near Morants, contain objects referable to the Merovingian Period (fourth to seventh centuries) ; and a skull from one of them is of the type of those found in the successional sepultures, GEOLOGY OF GREECE 1. Zhe Thessalian Olympus.—In treating of the geology of Greece, as determined by a recent survey, Herr M. Neu- mayr, in the Proceed. Imper. Acad. Sciences, Vienna, July 17, 1879, describes this mountain-group as having a north and south direction, and consisting of a somewhat flattened dome of strata, with a subordinate syncline on the west. The limits on both sides are defined by lines of fracture, The constituent rocks are schists, of many kinds, with enormous intercalated limestones, at some places 3,000 metres thick. These latter are partly saccharoidal, partly semicrystalline, and some- times nearly compact. In the last variety there are, in some localities numerous indeterminable organic remains, 2. M. Neumayr and L. Burgerstein state that the broad peninsular mass in South Roumelia, below Salonica, known as Chalkidiké (Chalcidica), is for the most part composed of micaceous and other schists, excepting its south-west portion and the Athos promontory. At some places considerable beds of marble are intercalated. The middle promontory of the three terminating the great peninsula is called Longos, and consists of gneiss, the oldest rock of the region. 3. The Island of Cos, according to Neumayr, consists for the most part of schists, marble, and Hippurite-limestone (with Rudistz), The remainder is occupied by upper tertiary and diluvial deposits. Of the tertiaries the lower pliocene palu- dina beds strikingly resemble, in their fauna, the analogous Sclavonian deposits, and over them lie marine pliocene beds and rhyolitic tuffs ; and eruptive rocks, trachytic in character, are also present. Being the extreme eastern member of the Cyclado- Sporadic series, traversing the Egean, and being connected with the neighbouring volcanic islands, Cos is well adapted to afford an insight into the nature of this submarine mountain-chain, and it yields an indication of the South-Egean basin being a depressed area of diluvial origin. The freshwater pliocene fauna offers interesting materials for the discussion of the upper tertiary fresh- water deposits of the Egean region at present known, and of the evolution of the Eastern Mediterranean area, A number of passages have been collected by Prof. Hornes from the Greek Classics, mentioning ‘‘ giants’ bones,” which may point to places where remains of fossil mammals have been found. NOTES FROM NEW ZEALAND Wild Pigs and Wekas (Ocydromus).—Early in the spring of 1876 I spent several days in fern-collecting and botanising in the Malvern Hills district of Canterbury. Whilst so engaged, in many places I came across fresh pig-tracks and rootings, now and then sighting a boar. On one open hillside, bordered with fagus woods, I found three nests of that curious rail, the weka (Ocydromus) ; each of the nests contained eggs. It seemed re- markable that the nests should have remained unrayaged by the wild pigs that were constantly roaming about the neighbourhood. It is highly improbable that the keen-scented swine were not aware of the weka’s haunts, The trail of this bird is strong, readily followed by dogs ; indeed, dogs take to this pursuit with so much of pleasure and relish that many good sheep-dogs ; : ihe De. “25, 1879] NATURE 193 become unreliable and almost worthless when they enter upon weka-hunting, It is a well-known fact that wekas usually abound in districts infested with wild pigs; they probably find their advantage in feeding on the varied forms of insect life disclosed in the soil upturned by the swine in rooting up ferns, spear-grass, &c. ; The Kea (Nestor notabilis)—In NatuRE, vol. iv. p. 489, I called attention to certain destructive habits developed in the Kea. Since the date when that notice was written the bird has become very much better known to sheep-farmers in the alpine districts. During the past winter sheep were attacked by the kea as far north as the Rangitata River; it is probable these birds came from the district known as the Mackenzie country, as they have been troublesome about Lake Ohou. — A New Zealand Gamekeeper’s Return,—Naturalists may read with some interest perhaps the following return of animals killed by gun or trap, on a large estate in the Middle Island ; the numbers given do not include animals that have been destroyed by means of poison, or ‘‘the bill of mortality” would have been very much heavier. From January 12, 1879, to August 24, 1879 Wild pigs Eee ove oF at ia 108 ss cats die dus es ‘s 1% 18 Rats a ee a we de 1880] Soe oes eri an. I, NATURE 2 Be,’ 199 _ the performers covers all his face but his eyes with his turban, seizes his spear and throwing iron (a curious _ boomerang-like weapon with a long projecting prong on 4 the concave margin), and thus prepared the two approach oneanother. At a distance of about six steps from one another they squat on their heels with spear upright in one hand and iron in the other. The one then asks “How doyou do?” about a dozen times by means of four different words having that meaning used alternately, the reply being varied of the use of two words Laha, or Killala, Then one of the two loudly sings the word “ ihilla,’ which is returned by the other ina similar tone. The word is exchanged again and again, being commenced in a loud high pitched note and gradually run down the scale until it reaches a low bass murmur. When it has become so low as scarcely to be heard, on a sudden it is shouted again in high key and the gamut is run through as before. This goes on for a very long while, the per- formers going through it as a strict matter of ceremony, and taking no interest in one another all the while but looking round at the horizon or elsewhere during their vocal exertions. After a while various forms of the question “How are you?” and the answer “ Well,’’ are introduced, at last questions or other topics are brought forward, although now and again the “jhilla” bursts out in the midst of them, but the series of notes in which it is shouted becomes shorter and shorter. At last the ihilla is got rid of altogether and ordinary conversation becomes possible. Strangers do not shake hands, but acquaintances do, The covering of the face when greeting or meeting strangers is considered as a most important matter of etiquette. In the Zuar Valley the large baboons (Cynocephalus babuin) were met with in great numbers climbing on the rocks and trees, and, on account of their greenish grey colour, hardly to be distinguished from the tree trunks and stones. They tumble about amongst trees beset thickly with thorns many inches long without hurt. The Tubu do not molest them, partly because they are afraid of their strength and partly from superstitious motives. On the cliffs bounding the river Udéno, near Bardai, in the centre of Tibesti, the author found a series of rude drawings of the same kind as those discovered by Barth _in the north-eastern Tudrik region. The drawings are incised on the stone and represent almost without ex- ception oxen with the horns bent forwards, all of which have a rope attached to the horns and drawn forward as if they were being led by it; some have on their backs the pack-saddle now used for oxen in Sudan. ;That the drawings were not inspired by reminiscences of the pack cattle of Sudan is shown by the circumstance that the leading rope is attached to the nostrils of the oxen and by the absence of the hump in them, The drawings are probably very ancient and date back from a time when cattle were used as beasts of burden in the country, and camels as yet not introduced. Barth remarked on the entire absence of the camel from amongst the very numer- ous drawings examined by him, in the present instance one drawing of a camel does occur, but Dr. Nachtigal thinks it has been probably added by a later hand in imitation of the ancient drawings. There is one figure of a man, a warrior of life size, with a spear in one hand and in the other a shield of a different form from that now used in Tubu and curiously enough divided into four fields by a cross. Dr. Nachtigal had a hard time of it in Bardai, being kept a prisoner in his camp and cruelly stoned by crowds of girls of 12 or 14 years of age, if he attempted to move out. The children evidently thought it good fun stoning - him as well as their religious duty to do so, They watched him closely in case he should dare to steal out during quiet hours and rallied one another with the shout of “at the heathen.” Sometimes a drunken man joined in the sport with his throwing-iron and made matters very serious indeed. It was of no avail for Dr. Nachtigal to give the children sugar, or other presents, or to attend the sick ; as soon as the presents were secured or the visit to the patient completed, the volleys of stones came flying as before. It was just before his flight from Bardai that Dr. Nachtigal heard of the murder of Miss Tinne; the news hastened his departure, and he returned to Fezzan. A chapter is devoted to the natural productions of Tu. The best camels of the Eastern part of the Great Desert are bred by the Tubu. They belong to that variety of the animal which is peculiar to the Central and Southern Sahara, and which is distinguished at first glance from the Northern or Arab camel. The latter has short limbs, stout body, heavy head and neck, and shaggy hair; the former is higher on the legs and lighter built with smooth hair. The Arab variety looks built for weight-carrying, the Tuarik animal for pace. The fat-tailed sheep of the coast does not occur in Tibesti, the sheep of the region having long legs, a long thin tail and pretty long black shining hair instead of wool. The throwing irons of the Teda are curious weapons of boomerang form beset with projecting prongs of various shapes. They are double-edged in parts and single-edged witha stout back in others. The handle is bound with leather to give a firm grip. The weapon is thrown horizontally with great precision and terrible effect. Children practise with a piece of bent flattened wood sharpened on one edge in imitation of the throwing iron and carry also a wooden-tipped spear. Being thus accustomed to carry weapons in their hands all their lives, the full-grown men when they are about their dwelling-places where they are strictly for- bidden by custom to carry actual arms, return to the weapons of their childhood and carry about the wooden spear and throwing weapon. The illustration given by the author of his reception by the Sultan of Bornu may be compared with the similar reception accorded to Denham and Clapperton so many years ago, and with their illustration of the ceremony. The then Sultan when he received Denham and Clapperton was concealed behind a lattice which was dispensed with in Dr. Nachtigal’s case. Amongst the presents conveyed by the present author were life-sized portraits of the King and Queen of Germany and of the Crown Prince. We cannot follow Dr. Nachtigal further, or pick out more interesting matter. The book seems to us rather too long and somewhat spun out ; it is most sumptuously — got up, with two large maps, well bound, and is full of good illustrations. Of these latter no list is given nor any information as to the sources from which those which 4 F-t34 5 V+ ee Se ae Sind - ee ee ae have appeared before are derived. The familiar figure in Denham iand’ Clapperton’s work of a mail-clad warrior and horse of Bornu is copied without any kind of ac- Imowledgment.. Very slight differences have been made in theoprésent figut@: thus in it the great: toe-only is placeddn the stirrup instead of the whole foot, as in the griginal, and the spear-blade is double instead of ‘single, whilst the helmet has, a plume added, but all the rest is directly) copied -without’any reason being given for the alterations; . A»most«remarkable defect in the -book, considering that it, is German and -scientific, is the almost. entire absence of references to former works of dll» kinds; ‘As far as we have been able to discover _ there are only two references: to,other books in the entire work; one to Fournel’s ‘‘ Les Berbes,” the other to the publications of the German Geographical Society. Though Barth and Duveyrier are mentioned and their views are quoted, no references to their writings are given. And Denham and Clapperton are. entirely ignored even inthe account of Bornu. A serious draw- back is that the book is published so long after the travels to which it relates were,completed. We hope that the second volume may not be long in appearing. We understand that the: book is.shortly to be published in English, It is full-of interesting and valuable matter and of scientific details. THE SCIENCE OF AGRICULTURE First Lessons in the Science of Agriculture; for Use in Indian Elementary Schools or Classes. Pp.67. By J. B. Fuller. (Calcutta: Stanhope Press, 1879.) HIS little primer is issued under the authority of the Department of Agriculture and Commerce, North- West Provineesand Oudh. If its teachings be accepted and followed: by those for whom they are intended, increased and improved crops must» be the consequence. Of course, within the narrow limits of some seventy small pages, we cannotexpect to find the scientific basis of the art of agriculture fully developed; indeed, the explanations of the materials and processes. with which Indian farming is concerned.,are neither numerous nor full, But to show clearly a,fews ofthe worst mistakes made by Eastern cultivators of the:soil, and to indicate remedies and im- proved metheds ef.procedure in but half-a-dozen cases, is a useful beginning: of an important work, We note, in passing, a few examples of the recommendations, based upon scientific knowledge, which Mr. Fuller makes in these ‘‘ First Lessons.” On p.-7 the, usefulness,of'a good tilth and of a feeding-ground deepened by thorough ploughing for crops during seasons of drought, is illus- trated and enforced. We learn»from pp. 26 and 27 that due importance is not generally.attached to the selection and securing of the best varieties and qualities of seed for sowing the fields, Too often they sowany seed they have by them, the. produce of their own fields, and-often of inferior quality. Good kinds of grain, &c., arethus found to be confined to.one village, though they, might be grown successfully in many: neighbouring, places.. Thus, the village of Jaldli in the Aligarh district is well known for its fine white wheat; Sdnkni, in Bulandshahar, for its safflower; Some districts north-west of Allahabad for indigo, and Hinganghat for cotton, The. value of new plants to India is discussed on pp, 31 and.32, the cases cited being tea, the potato, reana, and Egyptian cotton, Passing over a-chapter in which some elementary facts about plant-food are given, we find many useful remarks (pp. 37 to 44) on the fertility of the soil and the means of restoring or increasing it... Here we are introduced to seh and. zsar. The former term is applied to the saline efflorescence, which, in some seasons especially, appear in many tracts of land in the North-West Provinces and elsewhere in India. eh consists mainly of sodium and calcium sulphates, with some common salt and nitrates. The wsav plain is infected with veh, but I cannot agree with Mr. Fuller in con- demning the usar soils as sterile through deficiency of plant-food (p. 38). My analyses of such soils gave in most cases no evidence of deficiencies in the mineral elements of plant-nutrition, they merely showed an excess of soluble salts.. What Mr. Fuller says about the best way of getting rid of eh is very judicious, so are his remarks about the sad waste of animal and vegetable residues (including indigo waste, and the bones of bullocks and buffaloes, in India)—residues which, instead of being burnt or neglected, should certainly be much more largely than at present ploughed intothe land. Hiscontrast between the work of the Indian plough and ‘the English, the latter doing in one ploughing what the former needs twelve ploughings to accomplish, should be of some real ser- vice, especially as the new English-pattern ploughs made at Cawnpore are very light, and do not cost more than eight rupees apiece. By the use of this improved imple- ment the ‘‘pan,” which has been formed. two or three inches under so large a tract of Indian soil by therubbing of the old ploughshares and the trampling of the bullocks, would be broken up, and the rains would penetrate and moisten a much greater depth of soil. Mr. Fuller illus- trates the advantage of increasing by such deep ploughing the depth of water-holding soil. He.says: ‘‘In Madras, inthe year 1878, when there was a great famine from the failure of the rains, some land was ploughed with the European plough, and some with. the. native plough, on the Government farm. Neither was! irrigated, and both had to depend for their water. on. the. little rain.that fell. The European-ploughed land gave a. rice-crop: of six maunds per acre; the native-ploughed land did not: yield a single grain.” The two last lessons in this useful little book contain some quite. satisfactory explanations as. to the respective merits of canal and well water, and of thin and thick seeding in India. Avagidie Me OUR BOOK. SHELF On the Crystallography of Calcite: By J. R. McD. Irbys B.Sc., of Lynchburg, U.S... (Bonn); Charles Georgi, 1878.) ONE is pleased to find that, in am essay onstheccrys- tallography’ of calcite, by-a gentleman, who-has;received his training in America and Germany, the system of representation used by Prof. Miller has been adopted, and not the objectional modification employed by Pro- fessors Groth and Dana, jun. One regrets that the paper is unaccompanied by a_stereographic projection, which ee ee would have much simplified the discussion of the distribu- _ tion and position. of the forms. F iar The original. part.of the.essay consists of a criticism yr Sat ee and redetermination of some forms involving very high | supposed to have begun with a paper by Krénig which doesnot, indices on crystals examined by the late M. Hessenberg. The measurements were made with one of the goniometers devised by Prof. Groth, which gives definite results when the faces are good. The collimator and telescope are fixed, however, at right angles to one another, so that the determination of striated faces, such as many of those examined were, is difficult and uncertain. Much more reliable measurements would be. obtained were the angle between collimator.and telescope small, and it would be very easy to arrange the collimator so that the angle of incidence and reflection might be varied at will. Prof. Miller used to arrange his goniometer so that the angle between the incident and reflected ray was less than 20°, and was thus able to get rid of a good deal of the diffi- culty arising from striation. Mr, Irby has guarded himself from error by the com- parison of several independent observations of the angles made by a new face with those adjoining it, with the angles obtained by calculation, and has avoided employ- ing the angles made with faces on more distant parts of the crystal, though the latter would be often better adapted for purposes of calculation. He criticises Prof. vom Rath’s method of observation by taking the reflection of a window-bar as signal, The error which would thus arise would not exceed 1’ in the case of good faces, and I believe Prof. vom Rath only employs this method of observation with very good faces. Another source of error would be due to the proximity of the signal which would give a considerable error if the edge were not well- centred. Moreover, a goniometer with vertical plane of reflection is very difficult to get into or keep in good adjustment, and errors might arise in this way. None of these errors will, however, account for the impossibility of getting simpler indices for the form {35, 17, 32}, consider- ing how definite were the angles obtained from the several faces of the scalenohedron. A careful criticism of this form at the time it was published, and of all the different ways in which errors might be piled up in the course of the analysis, failed to lead to any result but that of admitting the possibility of forms with these high indices. | In the Cambridge collection is a crystal of quartz with an extremely well-developed face, which Prof. Miller has determined to be {50, 19, 19}. It is very slightly rounded on the edge of the prism face. Of course, when the faces are rounded or otherwise distorted, indices calculated from the observations are mere approximations. Seeing the great variations which occur in the angles of well- crystallised minerals, good work might be done in testing the constancy of the angle of the cleavage rhomb in the specimens from different localities. Breithaupt’s deter- = nating of this angle are unfortunately not sufficiently reliable. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR [The Editor does not hold himself responsible for opinions expressed by his correspondents. Neither can he undertake to return, or to correspond with the writers of, rejected manuscripts. No notice is taken of anonymous communications. [The Editor urgently requests correspondents to keep their letters as short as possible. The pressure on his space is so great that it is imposstble otherwise to ensure the appearance even of com- munications containing interesting and novel facts.] The Molecular Velocity of Gases Your correspondent, M. Hajnis, asserts in a foot-note ap- pended to his letter published in NaTuRE, vol. xxi. p. 176, that **the formula for the molecular velocity (of gases) was first given by Krénig,” and not by Joule. I am at a loss to understand how this statement can be justified. Kronig’s paper appeared in 1856, while Joule’s calculation, which is that now generally received,.is of date 1848. In his discourse on molecules (Phi/, Mag., December,:1873), Prof, Max- well says‘: ‘‘ The further development of the theory is generally 201 however, so far as I cam see, contain’ any improvement on what had gone before.” f R Weaver Birds and Fire-Flies é UNDER the heading ‘‘ Natural History Notes from Burmahy” in NaTuRE, vol. xx. p. 362 of the present ‘seriesy Mr. R. Romanis asked if any of your readers have ever seen or heard of weaver birds sticking fire-flies to lumps of mud on the sides of - their nest for the purpose of illumination, Ens The tradition that certain birds of the weaver family (Floceide) and their allies do this, is prevalent over'a large portion of the globe inhabited by these birds. I have traced it personally from China, all parts of India, Burmah, Ceylon, the Malayan Peninsula, Indian Archipelago, Southern, Eastern, and Western Africa, and South America. I have examined ‘* weaver birds’” nests from all these countries, and have found lumps of mud sticking inside them, and ‘‘ ‘herefore it must be true, you know 1!” But for what use are these lumps of mud stuck there? Some years ago I wrote an article in the Cage Monthly Magazine on this very subject, entitled ‘‘ Strange Stories and their probable Origin,” and I started by saying ‘‘ Where there is smoke there must be fire,” quoting the old proverb.” My belief is that these lumps of mud are used-as scrapers on which to clean the birds’ bills, as I have frequently found the wing cases, and other débris of Coleoptera, &c.,.fixed to them. Hence the superstition that they stick fireflies thereon, Ishould remind your readers that all the ‘‘ weavers” are grain feeders, antl perhaps only occasionally partaking of insect-food;: they: are bothered by the bits sticking to their bills... I see my tamed birds are most careful in cleaning their beaks. : At the time I wrote my article above alluded to, I was not so conversant with the African ‘‘hang-nests” as afterwards became, but I can affirm that in all the places I have named the supersti- tion, and the mud, is to be found. E. ky Lavarp’ British Consulate, Noumea, October 22, 1879" * The Papau PERMIT me to add to my friend the Rey. S. J. Whitmee’s testimony of the papau being eaten by birds in’ the Samoan Islands, that it is here (New Caledonia) a favourite -food of the “white eye” (Zosterofs), and in the Loyalty Islands was used as the only bait to attract these birds, of which dozens were brought me—of the three known species of that~ genus which inhabit that group (see my letters to /¥e/d newspaper) all caught by the boys through its means. If my memory serves me rightly, I have seen the papau in Mauritius eaten by a species of Zosterops. E, L. LAYARD British Consulate, Noumea, New Caledonia, October 22, 1879 - Scale of Colours In NATURE, vol. xxi, p. 172, it is stated that at a meeting of the Zoological Society, December 2, 1879, ‘* A letter was read from Mr. E. L. Layard, F.L.S., advocating the desirability of a fixed scale of colour for use among naturalists im describing the plumage and pelages of birds and other animals.” Perhaps Mr, Layard is not aware that such a scale, in form of thin Svo, was published by Patrick Syme in Edinburgh, in 1821, the tints being illustrated by carefully coloured examples. .The exact title of the work, a copy of which is in’ my owm library, is as follows :—‘* Werner’s Nomenclature of Colours, with Additions, arranged so as to render it highly useful to the-Arts and Sciences, particularly Zoology, Botany, Mineralogy, and Morbid Anatomy. Annexed to which are Examples selected from well-known Ob- jects in the Animal, Vegetable, and Mineral Kingdoms.” The date given above is that of the second edition, whiclt was “Printed for William Blackwood, Edinburgh, and T. Cadells, Strand, London.” L, BLOMEFIELD Bath, December 22, 1879 (late JENYNS) Qn the “Habitat” of Lophiomys ON reading the review of “ Cassell’s Natural History,” vol. iii., given in NaTuRE, vol. xxi. p. 136, I find that both’ the author and the reviewer do not appear to have been aware that the “habitat” of that most interesting rodent, Lophiomys imhaust, is 202 NATURE well known, The rich and interesting Museo Civico di Storia Naturale, of Genoa, amongst its many rarities, contains a magnificent specimen of the Lophiomys, mounted skin and skeleton, which specimen was caught at Keren in the Bogos land, in June, 1870, and forms part of the fine collections made at that place by Dr. Beccari and Marquis Antinori. The native name of the Lophionys, according to Antinori, is Zzechiza. The reviewer cites M. Alphonse Milne-Edwards’s impression of the resemblance of Zofhiomys to certain opossums, a point in which I cannot completely agree ; my impression is that this very remarkable rodent offers one of the best cases of ‘‘ defensive mimicry,” being strangely like a Viverrine carnivore in outward appearance. The granulation of the upper portion of the skull, which extends to the upper surface of the first cervical vertebra, is very peculiar; but it is not strictly correct to assert that nothipg of the kind is met with in other mammals; in the very same order, Rodentia, we find a very similar structure in the cranium of the Paca (Ce/ogenys), and I believe some allied forms. HENRY HILLYER GIGLIOLI Reale Istituto, Florence, December 17, 1879 On Haloporphyrus lepidion (Risso) I HAVE recently had occasion to examine two specimens of this rare and remarkable gadoid fish of the Mediterranean, originally described as Gadus lepidion by Risso (“ Ichthyologie de Nice,” p. 118). The first was captured in my presence in the Gulf of Genoa, in July last, from a depth of about 900 metres, the second I received from Nice, where it was captured in deep waters on September 1 last, and I know of a third specimen taken at the latter place. All agree perfectly with Risso’s description except in the general colour, a light brown, and not “un beau rouge incarnat,” while Risso appears to have over- looked the presence of a small patch of vomerine teeth. But our Mediterranean specimens present notable differences from that described by Dr. Giinther (‘‘ Catalogue of Fishes,” iv. p. 355), and referred by him to this species; besides being considerably larger, the British Museum specimen, which is from Madeira, has a much smaller eye and much longer snout and barbel. Such differences might depend on age, but I am strongly inclined to consider them specific, and therefore beg to draw the attention of ichthyologists to the case; should my opinion prove correct, the Madeiran fish might go by the name of Aaloporphyrus giintheri. While rapidly completing the rich series of fishes belonging to the central collection of Italian vertebrata, formed by me in the Florence Zoological Museum, I have recently been able to add thereto a second very rare gadoid, the Physiculus dalwighi, Kaup, a new acquisition to the Mediterranean fauna. My specimen was captured at Nice on August 4 last, and strange to say was sent to me as Uralepius maraldi. Reale Istituto, Florence HENRY HILLYER GIGLIOLI Edison’s New Lamp I OBSERVE in NATURE, vol. xxi. p. 187, a statement to the effect that Mr, Edison has adopted the use of carbon in his new electric lamp, and that the carbon he uses is charred paper or card of the shape of a horse-shoe. Fifteen years ago I used charred paper and card in the con- struction of an electric lamp on the incandescent principle. I used it, too, of the shape of a horse-shoe, precisely as, you say, Mr, Edison is now using it. I did not then succeed in obtaining the durability which I was in search of, but I have since made many experiments on the subject, and within the last six months I have, I believe, completely conquered the difficulty which led to previous failure, and I am now able to produce a perfectly durable electric lamp by means of incandescent carbon, JosrrH W. SWAN Underhill, Low Fell, Gateshead, December 29, 1879 Flow of Viscous Materials Mr, BorroM.ey, in his paper on this subject in NATURE, vol. xxi, p. 159, refers to experiments made four years ago, but if he refers to the Philosaphical Magazine, vol. xxvi. 206, 1845, he will find a notice of an experiment made twenty-four years ago. It occurred thus :—A barrel of pitch, with one end partly knocked out, had been lying in the sun for some months, and a part of it had run out on the ground, My late partner, Prof. L. Gordon, visited the wire-rope works one day in August, 1844, and I called his attention to the appearance of the pitch as being a good illustration of Prof. Forbes’s theory of glaciers ; thereupon he wrote the letter referred to; whee is also quoted in Forbes’s ‘‘ Theory of Glaciers,” p- 269. Any sort of pitch, such as that obtained from gas tar, will answer the purpose. If the surface is rubbed over with some white material, the formation of crevasses will be well shown; and if a row of pins are stuck into the pitch about an inch and allowed to project they will soon lose their perpendicularity and thus indicate the movements in the model glacier. The rapidity of flow of course varies with the temperature. I had a curious illustration of the power of plants in forcing their way through resisting materials. I had covered the ground with about two inches of asphalt, and a dandelion pushed its flower and leaves through this viscous mass. Ferndene, December 28, 1879 R. S. NEWALL Hungarian Earthquakes and the Kolumbacs Flies A NOTE in NATURE, vol. xxi. p. 89, speaking of the recent Hungarian earthquakes, contains, amongst others, the following passage :—‘* Near Weisskirchen, the old ruins of the Castle of Golubacz have fallen in completely, and in the vicinity several caves were rendered inaccessible. ‘These caves were the drveeding Places of the dreaded Kolumbacs mosquitos, and if this insect is thus exterminated the earthquake may, with all the damage it did, have yet been of some use.” This report is based on obvious error, for it is a well-known act that the small (3-4 millim. long) Kolumbacs flies (Simudlia golumbacensis, Fabr.), which, in the southern part of Hungary, especially in the old Banat and the county of Hunyad, cause considerable damage among the pasturing cattle (especially among horned cattle, horses, swine, and sheep), breed by no means in those caves which are to be found around the ancient Galambécz (known nowadays under the name of Golubacz or Kolumbacs, on the Servian territory), but in the shallower parts of the waters extending in great quantities in that country. The course of life of the Kolumbacs fly is, for the most part, in conformity with that of many families of the Nemocera, or Tipularize group, as are the Culicidz, -many species of flies (Brachycera), the Phryganide, &c. The mature and fecun- dated mother-fly lays her eggs upon the plants vegetating on the water-borders, whence they get on the stones under the water, and other objects, there living through their larva and nymph states until they arrive at their full development. But, in the first years after 1850, under the rule of the Austrian military system of that time, there did occur the curious fact that —upon the advice of a military officer of the frontier-districts, who, as it was supposed, had made out that the breeding-nests of these flies are in the caves around Galambécz, Old Moldavia, and their environs—the Government of Vienna officially decreed the walling up of the openings of the caves. And actually they were walled up. But in the next mild spring, the conditions of development being favourable again, the Kolumbacs fly appeared and ravaged once more. The Viennese Government, on learning this unpleasant and disappointing news, hastened to amend the blunder, and sent to the place a Hungarian savant, Vincent Kollar, and a German entomologist, Joseph Mann, to take the question under examination. These, in a brief space of time, succeeded in clearing up the true state of things, and in gathering such a series, as contained all the stages of the development of the Kolumbacs fly in numerous specimens. Th.s collection is to be seen now in the entomological section of the Naturalien Cabinet of Vienna, grouped in the best order. The imputation, therefore, as if it were the Hungarians who had walled up the orifices of the caves in the vicinity of Galambocz, in order to exterminate the Kolumbacs flies by that means—an opinion which, as I, this year, happened to hear at the lecture of an eminent German savant, is propagated even in Germany—is entirely erroneous and without any foundation. Budapest, December 2 JuLius LeTHO Unconscious Thought RESUMING this subject, I again call attention to the circum- stance that unconscious thought in children is more developed than conscious thought, though conscious thought or sensation Fan. 1, 188 wr 203 lays the foundation of what becomes habitual or instinctive. In due to the tenacious resistance of unconscious thought, storing up man, unconscious thought becoming habitual, it is the nursery again of conscious thought, the two conditions in the adult coexisting. : : Turning to comparative psychology, a branch which has always appeared to me of particular importance, we find in in- telligent animals, as the dog, either in community (commonly called wild) or in the domesticated state, the same nature of mind as in man and the like manifestations, In the young animal, however, there must have been the same precedent stage, though the conscious stage is of course produced earlier than in - man, This raises the question, on which we can speculate, but which we cannot as yet solve, whether some animals are not mostly in the state of unconscious thought, never attaining to that of conscious thought. Looking to the cases of degradation in man, it appears to me that in softening of the brain the man falls back to the unconscious stage, and in some instances remains for some time in it, so that here we get an example of prolongation, it may he called continuance, of the unconscious stage. Such a state as that of habitual unconscious thought may be regarded as possible and probable, and we are justified in apply- ing it to many animals of inferior nervous organisation. The condition of consciousness being absent, the degree of pain is less, as must be the case in infants. So far from the saying of the master painter of mankind being true that the worm feels as great a pang as when the giant dies, the worm must be less sensitive and less sensible. It is quite possible that the antivivi- sectionists may be in the wrong as to lower animals, whatever reason they may have as to those like the dog, There will be at least the like gradations of mind as of form in the animal world, and the difference between an animalcule and a dog will be enormous, and still greater that between the animalcule and man, In the higher stages the differences will be vastly augmented by the agencies at work. Thus it must be that the conscious stage producing precision of action influences the habitual condition of the unconscious stage, Having applied this to man, we may better conceive it, and form some notion of its prodigious relative development by considering how man so constituted has his power of thought enhanced by the great instrument of speech. These causes contribute to the great differences which I long since pointed out between the rapidity of thought of one man and another, or of the same man at different times of life or under yarious conditions. My paper ‘‘On the Geographical Distribution of Intellectual Faculties in England,” following one at the British Association, being published in the Yournal of the Statistical Society (June, 1871, p. 357), has escaped the notice of psychologists and physiologists, being esteemed statistical, whereas it is also psychological. At p. 357 I gave an account of an experiment, showing a fluctuation in conscious thought in one adult of from 1 to 4, or 100 to 400, denoting an enormous difference, and illustrative of the variations in mental power which exist in society. If, however, we were to estimate a child of 14 at 50, then the ratio would be as 1 to 8. If we take a child of 7 at the quarter of an adult, then we should have 1 to 16. These are not extreme measures, for in the babe we may find 1 to 100, I to 200, I to 4co, This is given as an illustration of what must exist in the animal world “as to conscious thought, and that without reference to unconscious thought, which must be the condition of many classes. Physiologically the subject has been treated by many physiologists, and notably most admirably by Dr. Carpenter ; but here the psychological aspect in the special forms indicated is alone brought into prominence. The phenomena of unconscious thought, indeed, require much greater attention. Not only do they underlie the distinctions between animals and between animals and man, but they must be taken into consideration as explanatory of dreams and of many forms of mental disease, This has been partly dealt with by Dr. Carpenter, While the later steps of dreams, the visible and pictorial stages, are greatly under the influence of conscious thought, the early stages are under the influence of unconscious thought. It appears to me quite possible that unconscious thought is not altogether latent in sleep. It is worthy of consideration what is the condi- tion of a wakeful animal, say a dog—whether it is one succession of dreams or a form like delirium. The recurrence of an error once implanted in the mind, not- withstanding our efforts to eliminate or counteract ir, is probably and reproducing the error. Heredity of thought, whether as dealt with by Mr. Francis Galton or by myself in the paper quoted at p. 359, &c., may be assigned chiefly to the transmission of the habits of unconscious thought, if we consider more especially the condition of the lower animals, As my last communication was mentioned in the Daily Telegraph of November 29, and with the assertion that Dr. Carpenter, Mr. C. T, Munro, and myself have provided in un- conscious thought a new plea for unaccountability for criminal actions, it is well to remark that the phenomena discussed have no such bearing. Hype CLARKE December 20, 1879 Stags’ Horns THE disappearance of the antlers of stags, in the Highlands and elsewhere, is to be accounted for by the fact that they are saleable articles ; but although they do not assist as entremets at the animal’s meal it may happen that they assist—in the form of knife-handles—in the distribution of his venison at our dinners. When a lad I obtained many antlers of the Fallow Deer from a neighbouring park, the tines of which were sometimes broken but never gnawed or polished by licking. It would scarcely be surprising that deer should crave for calcareous matter during the rapid development of their antlers, but neither are their tongues adapted for rasping nor their teeth for comminuting hard bones, PauL HENRY STOKOE Beddington Park ment No gillie that I know of has the honour of my acquaintance, and therefore no gillie can know, save indirectly, that I have picked up a horn of the red deer, in a park near Sheffield! Iwas told at the time by the gardener who accompanied me that these horns were eagerly sought after by the Sheffield knife-makers for the purpose of making bucks’ horn knlte eee one A Query I HAVE seen somewhere (but I am unable to say where) a statement to the effect that there is some evidence for the suppo- sition that in the crystallising state of matter the forces between molecule and molecule are not directed in the right lines joining the molecules. Can any of your readers throw light on this subject, or give references to sources of information about any other case in which the mutual action of two molecules is not directed in the line joining them? IGNORAMUS THE ASSERTED ARTIFICIAL PRODUCTION OF THE DIAMOND ROF. MASKELYNE sends us the following letter on this subject :— I should be obliged if you would accord me space in one of your columns in order that I may answer a great number of letters and applications which have pur- sued me during the past few days on a subject of some little public interest, that subject being the asserted formation of diamonds by a gentleman at Glasgow. Some ten days ago I had heard nothing whatever of the claim of Mr. Mactear, of the St. Rollox Works, Glasgow, to the artificial production of the diamond. My name, however, was already in several newspapers as that of a person in whose hands the asserted diamonds had been placed for a decision as to their true nature. Ultimately a small watch-glass with a few microscopic crystalline particles came into my hands for this purpose from Mr. Warington Smyth, and subsequently a supply came to me direct from Mr. Mactear. I shall proceed to state the results ! have obtained from the examination of these. Out of the first supply I selected by far the largest particle, one about the Joth of an inch in length, and it may be that I wasted some time in experimenting on this particle, as it might not have been an authentic example > NATURE 204. of the. “manufactured diamond,” since it differed in some respects from the specimens Ihave since received direct from Mr. Mactear. : The diamond excels all substances in hardness. Its crystals belong to the cubic system, and should not, therefore, present the property of doubly refracting light. Frequently, however, from the influence of strains within the crystal due to inclosed gas bubbles, or other causes, diamonds are not entirely without action. on a ray of polarised light sent through them. Finally, the diamond is pure carbon, and, as such, burns entirely away when heated to a sufficiently high temperature in the air, and more vividly so burns, or rather glows away, when heated in oxygen gas. The specimens I had to experiment upon were too light to possess appreciable weight, too small even to see unless by very good eyesight or with a lens, yet were, nevertheless, sufficiently large to answer the three questions suggested by the above properties. A few grains of the dust, for such the substance must be termed, were placed between a plate of topaz—a cleavage-face with its fine natural polish—and a polished surface of sapphire, and the two surfaces were carefully “worked” over each other with a view to the production of lines of abrasion from the particles between them. There was no abrasion. Ultimately the particles became bruised into a powder but without scratching even the topaz. ‘They are not diamond. Secondly, some particles more crystalline in appearance than the rest were mounted on a glass microscope slide and examined in the microscope with polarised light. They acted each and all powerfully in the manner of a birefringent crystal. It seemed even in one or two of them that when they lay on their broadest surface (it can scarcely be called a “ crystal-face’’) a principal section of the crystal was just ‘slightly inclined to a flattish side of itin a manner that suggested its not being a crystal of any of the orthosymmetrical systems. Be that as it may, it is not a diamond. Finally, I took two of these microscopic particles and exposed them to the intense heat of a table blow-pipe on a bit of platinum foil. They resisted this attempt to burn them. Then, for comparison, they were placed in contact with two little particles of diamond dust exceeding them in size, and the experiment was repeated. The result was that the diamond particles glowed and disap- peared, while the little particle from Glasgow was as obstinate and as unacted on as before. I had previously _ treated the specimen I have alluded to as the first on which I experimented by making a similar attempt in a hard glass tube in a stream of oxygen, and the result was the same. Hence I conclude that the substance supposed to be artificially formed diamond is not diamond and is not carbon, and I feel as confident in the results thus obtained from a few infinitesimal particles that can barely be mea- sured and could only be weighed by an assay balance of the most refined delicacy, as if the experiments had been performed on crystals of appreciable size. Not content with merely proving what these crystalline particles are not, I made an experiment to determine something about what they are. Heated on platinum foil several times with ammonium fluoride, they became visibly more minute, and a slight reddish white incrustation was seen on the foil. At the suggestion of Dr. Flight, assistant in this department, a master in the craft of the chemical analyst, these little particles were left for the night in hydrofluoric acid in a platinum capsule. This morning they have disappeared, having become dissolved in the acid. I have, therefore, no hesitation in declaring Mr. Mactear’s “diamonds” not only not to be diamonds at all, but to consist of some crystallised silicate, possibly one resembling an augite, though it would be very rash to assert anything beyond the fact that they consist of a compound of silica, and possibly of more than one such compound, The problem of the permutation of carbon from its ordinary opaque black condition into that in which it occurs in nature, as the limpid crystal of diamond is still unsolved. That it will be solved no scientific mind can doubt, though the conditions necessary may prove to be very difficult to fulfil. It is possible that carbon, like metallic arsenic, passes directly into the condition of vapour from that of a solid, and that the condition for its sublimation in the form of crystals, or its cooling into crystal diamond from the liquid state, is one involving a combination of high temperature and high pressure present in the depths of the earth’s crust, but very difficult to establish in a laboratory experiment. NEVIL STORY-MASKELYNE FURTHER NOTES UPON THE PAPUANS OF MACLAY COAST, NEW GUINEA i He ING recently received from my friend M. von Miklucho Maclay, by way of Singapore, some fur- ther notes upon the ethnology of the Papuans of Maclay Coast, in New Guinea, I herewith contribute the follow- ing abstract of them to the pages of NATURE, as the periodical in which they were published is not readily accessible to English readers.? The Daily Life of the Papuans.—With regard to the application of pigment to the face and body, the Papuans paint the face with red and black colours, the red being such usually used by the young (those from fifteen to thirty years “‘malassi”), and the black by those of riper years. The young further use the colouring agents in the form of various devices. On ordinary days they are unpainted, or confine themselves to a ring round the eyes or a line along the nose, which goes to join another running from the temple to the vertex, over the shaved eyebrows. On formal occasions, however, the whole face is smeared with a pigment over which white and black are drawn. Sometimes half of the face is painted black, while the other half is red, which gives a very remarkable appearance. The Tamo, or men over thirty years old, almost never employ the real colour, but substitute black instead. On important occasions the whole head is covered with the pigment; in fact, in certain districts, e.g, “Kar Kar,’’ Dampier Island, where this is abun- dant, the inhabitants smear the whole body with it, and with such care that it would be readily taken for their natural colour. : The women of Maclay coast are seldom to be seen painted, and, when they are, in not so elaborate a mode as are the men. A description has been already given of the coiffure. Before the arrival of Maclay bamboo knives and fragments of flint were used for the removal of the hair; but during his stay sherds of glass collected in the neighbourhood of his hut were substituted. Another method was also employed for the removal of single hairs by means of a noose made with a stalk of grass, in which the hair was twisted out of its follicle. Although this operation would seem to be a painful one, a Papuan has been seen engaged for three or four hours on this occupation, without a shade of an expression of pain being seen to pass over his features. Although the Papuans of this region are not conversant with the art of tattooing, they are accustomed to burn rows of scars in lines upon the skin. The operation is thus performed :— The patient having been placed either upon his back or belly, a red-hot fragment of dry bark is laid t “ Ethnologische Bemerkungen tiber die Papuas der Maclay-Kiiste in Neu Guinea—Alltiigiges Leben der Papuas”’ (Fortsetzung). Reprinted from the Natuurkundig Tijdschrift voor Nederlandsch Indie, Zevende Serie, Deel vi. p. 294. (Batavia, 1876.) This abstract may be regarded as a con- tinuation of two articles by me upon the same subject, which were published in NaTuRE, vol. ix, p. 328, vol. xiv. pp. t07, 136.—J. C. G. | 4a B ] 1880) "NATURE “G4 os Pe ie Lies \ o8-C rt. - % ‘ b ee “eo ~ . . me es - - aes ’ “ upon the skin’ until it is entirely consumed to ashes, and so on with each mark. This procedure, too, must demand great patience and self-control. The women, curiously enone, ornament their bodies much less than do the men, their costume being not infrequently re- duced toa minimum. In Billi-Billi, Maclay saw a matriageable maiden in the most singular costume that could possibly be conceived, consisting, as it did, of a single large shell (a white CyZrza) upon the lower part of the wzons Veneris. The men employ four or five hours in the combing of their hair and in smearing it with a decoction of the fruit of the Stbari (Caiophyllum inophyllum), also in adorn- ing it with feathers and flowers, and in painting their faces and backs. The only decorations, on the other hand, in which the females indulge on festal occasions is in a little dye with which they smear their hair, cheeks, and fore- head, and a number of necklaces composed of shells of various sizes and gaily-coloured fruit kernels. With regard to the social position of the women. Although it can hardly be said that the Maclay Coast Papuans ill-treat their wives, or that these latter have no influence upon the men, it is nevertheless the case that the women in almost every particular play an inferior vole; for even when they are not overworked they have always enough employment throughout the year, while the men, with the exception of a few weeks spent in heavy work—the laying-out of plantations and culti- vation of the ground—can for three-fourths of the time enjoy a dolce far niente. The women, moreover, have a worse diet, and dare not take their meals in company with the men, and in comparison with the latter wear scarcely any ornaments, nor do they take any part in their feasts. Neither the marriage nor the birth of children are celebrated with any particular festal observance. Cir- cumcision, on the other hand, is a somewhat important rite. This is performed at the age of twelve years, in the forest, at a distance from the village, and, as Zipporah did it, with a sharp flint, and after the ceremony the neophyte is escorted with songs back to the village. He is now no longer regarded as a boy, but as having come to man’s estate, and enjoys, accordingly, many privileges which are not accorded to mere children. The mode of salutation is somewhat laconic. Whena neighbour comes into a village he says to the children, “E-Wau /” “Hey, children!” while the men and women are greeted respectively with a “ &-Nangeli /"’ and “£-Mem!” “ Hey, you women!” and “ Hey, fathers !’’ The greeting of the Tamo among themselves is “£-Aba!” “Hey, brothers!” Relations, however, and friends are not accustomed to greet one another. The Papuans reach out their hands one to another, with a kind of movement, but without any mutual pressure. On departure the guest says “Adi-angarmem,” “I am going,” to which the host and any others who may be present reply “£-Aéda,” or ‘‘£-Mem,’ and the guest answers in corresponding terms. Upon this the host says, “ Glembe”’ —“Depart, then”—and escorts his guest as far as the entrance of the village, carrying with him the presents and the remnants of the feast. Hereupon the guest fre- quently remarks, “Stay you here, but I must be off.’ If the parting be of a particularly feeling character, one presses the other on the left side of the breast, embracing him at the same time with one arm, while with the other hand he pats him gently on the back. In the village Bogat, and in the Archipelago of Contentment, Maclay remarked that the people greeted a particularly honour- able guest by squatting in a particular position on the ground.! The custom of mutual exchange of names is pretty widely spread throughout the coast, and Maclay was * “Niederhocken.” This position has been already described in the first Eaper on the Papuans of Maclay coasts NaTuRE, vol. ix. p. 329. frequently begged to change his name with that of one of the natives whom he might have distinguished in some way or other. In order, however, to avoid any misunder standing, he always refused this request, and only as a particular favour allowed his name, “ Maclay,” to be borne by the newly-born boys, whose fathers regarded themselves as his special friends. He was, moreover, 205 frequently requested to choose a name for newly-born boys and girls. : < As regards the treatment of the dead, the news of death of a man is announced to the surrounding vi by a fixed succession of strokes on the Jarzs mn the-: < same or the next day the whole male population assembles x in complete war equipment in the neighbowvnood of the village. To the sound of the dJariem the guests stream into the village, and are awaited in the neighbourhood of the hut of the deceased by a crowd, Mkewise in warlike accoutrements. After a short palaver these present divide into two opposite camps, after which the performance of asham fight takes place. somewhat carefully in that they make no use of their spears ; dozens of arrows, however, are shot off, so that not a few are somewhat seriously wounded in this make- believe encounter. The relations and friends of the deceased seem in particular to get excited and behave like madmen, After all are tired out, and all arrows have been shot away, the gas? enemies sit down in a circle and comport themselves merely as lookers-on. The nearest relations of the deceased then bring a pair of mats and the sheaths of the petioles of the fronds of the sago-palm, and lay them in the midst of the open space. Next they bring the corpse out of its hut, maintained in the stooping posture, with the chin resting upon the knees, and the arms embracing the legs, by means of strips of rattan. Close to the corpse are placed its property, gifts of its neighbours, and a couple of bowls (¢ad7r) full of freshly- cooked food, while the men sit in a circle round the open space, the women, but only those nearest re- lated to the deceased, merely look on at a distance. The corpse is then, with great neatness and art, wrapped in the mats and palm leaves, and tied up fast with a quan- tity of rattan and lianas, so that the whole finally resem- bles a well-made parcel. This, after being fastened to a strong stake, is brought into the hut and the stake is fastened under the roof; finally, after arranging all the property, presents, and food in the neighbourhood of the corpse, the guests leave the hut and return to to their respective villages. Some days later, when the corpse has become very decomposed, it is buried in the hut itself, a pro- ceeding which in no wise hinders the relations from continuing to use it as adwelling-place. About a year afterwards the skull is dug up and separated from the body of the corpse; but it is not the whole skull, but only the lower jaw which is preserved, and that by the nearest relation of the deceased, being carried, not infrequently, in the gz, or worn asa kind of armlet. * is > They goto work, however, — This bone is most carefully preserved as a souvenir of the deceased, and it was only by the help of much per- suasion, backed by numerous presents, that Dr. M. Maclay prevailed upon its possessor to part, under the seal of secresy, with this treasured memento. The burial of a child or of a woman is attended with much less ceremony, being heralded by the sound of no darumt, and accompanied by no assembly of neighbours, nor martial pomp and circumstance. 1 This is not the only instance of the bones of the dead being worn by their surviving relatives. For instance, the Tasmanians (vide NATURE, vol. xiv. p. 211), according to Dr. Barnard Davis, carry as necklaces frag- ments of the bones of their relatives; and it is moreover stated by Prof. Allen Thomson, that the widows among the Andaman Islanders—the Mincopies according to Dr. B, Davis—actually wear the skulls of their late husbands upon their shoulders (NATURE, vol. xiv. p. 489). Prof. Flower, in a recent lecture on ethnology at the Royal College of Surgeons, showed the skull of an Andamanese man, to which was attached a very elegant webbed sling by which it had been suspended from the neck of the widow.—J. C. G. t Sa *. i Wee. 3 > 8 Ne 2 206 With regard to the language and dialects. This study was attended with great difficulty because there was at hand no go-between who could play the part of a mutual interpreter, for the terms which were required could only be learnt either by pointing to the corresponding object, or through such signs as would be employed in barter. These two methods were, however, the source of many misunderstandings and mistakes, for the same object was variously named by different people, and for weeks Maclay was uncertain as to which term was the correct one. Here is an instance of what frequently happened. Dr. Maclay showed a leaf, hoping to arrive at its name, a native mentioned a name, which was forth- with written Cown ; another Papuan gave another name on being shown the same thing; a third, fourth, and fifth, each gave a different word. Which out of all these was the proper name of the leaf in question? After a time and by degrees it was discovered that the word first mentioned was the proper name of the plant to which the leaf belonged, the second betokened its colour, 2.2.5 green, the third dirt or useless, probably because the leaf had been picked up from the ground, or belonged toa tree not turned to account by the Papuans. And soit came to pass with many words with abstract expressions and such as could not be explained by signs. Maclay, too, had obviously greater difficulties, for instance, how to inquire the equivalent word for “friend,’’ and that for “ friend- ship,’’ and it was only after the lapse of four months that the corresponding word to “seeing” was arrived at, but as to the equivalent of “hearing,” this was never come upon. The wrifing down of words was involved in further diffi- culties ; there were certain tones of the Papuan language which were absolutely impossible to imitate. This Maclay rightly attributes to fundamental differences in the anatomical structure of the larynx and the whole muscular system of the organ of speech in the two races. Not only the organ of speech but also that of hearing plays an important part, for the same word may be heard in a totally distinct manner by different individuals. There is, too, in the denotation of the words of such a tongue quite a series of sources of fallacy—(1) the aborigines have not the same pronunciation; (2) the translator hears the words with his individual organ of hearing ; (3) previously to writing it down he pronounces it with his individual organ of speech; (4) and finally, after pronunciation, the foreign word must be expressed in the characters of a known language. Nearly every village on Maclay Coast has its peculiar dialect, and these vary so much, that when making an excursion of two or three days, M. Maclay required the assistance of two, and even three, inter- preters. It is only the old who understand two or three dialects, and it not infrequently happens that young persons do not know words of their own dialect, in which case they resort for information to some old Papuan. From this it may come to pass that upon the death of elders new words must be brought out by the young and introduced into the vocabulary. On the other hand the Papuans are fairly quick at learning a new language, consequently there are now to be heard on Maclay Coast a number of Russian equivalents for such words as axe, knife, nail, &c. The names of various birds are founded upon the cry which they utter. There are, moreover, among the dialects of Maclay Coast a number of Malayo- Polynesian words. J. C. GALTON (To be continued.) FAMES R. NAPIER, F.R.S. ANY cultivators of science, both at home and abroad, more especially those engaged in engineering and shipbuilding, will deeply regret to learn of the decease of Mr. James R. Napier, F.R.S., the eldest son of the late Mr. Robert Napier of Shandon, the eminent pioneer of the shipbuilding and marine engineering industries of the Clyde. The sad event occurred on Saturday, the NATURE [%an, 1, 1880 13th ult., at his house in Glasgow, after an illness which had confined him to his room for about three weeks. His health had been very unsatisfactory, however, for a number of years, and, with the view in a great measure of securing a better bodily condition, he had travelled a good deal—to Australia, twice to America, several times. up the Mediterranean, wintering once at Malta, and on another occasion at Madeira, where he had the melancholy satisfaction of having as a brother invalid the late Prof. W. K. Clifford. Born in the year 1821, and educated at the High School of Glasgow, Mr. Napier studied mathematics under Dr. James Thomson (Sir William Thomson’s father), natural philosophy under Dr. W. Meikleham (Sir William’s im- mediate predecessor), and practical astronomy under the late Prof. J. P. Nichol. When quite a young man he was installed in his father’s shipbuilding yard at Govan in a responsible position, having had, however, an excellent practical training in the workshop under the late David Elder, a man who did much to train the present race of mechanics who have since secured prominent positions in their profession. By and. by the firm of Robert Napier and Sons was constituted, the sons being the deceased and his brother John ; and the firm eventually attained a position in connection with marine engineering and naval architecture that has never been excelled in the annals of steam navigation. About twenty years ago Mr. James R. Napier retired from the firm, and for a time he conducted a shipbuilding business of his own, when he availed himself of the opportunity of putting into practice a number of his most advanced notions in ship construction. But it would seem as if he was not destined to shine as a man of business, being very unlike his father in this respect. During his subsequent career he occasionally executed a number of commissions in connection with matters in which his special knowledge could be profitably turned to account, and much of his time was devoted to scientific pursuits. From time to time Mr. Napier communicated many interesting papers to learned societies with which he became connected. One of those bodies was the Philo- sophical Society of Glasgow, which he joined in the year 1850, when its presidential chair was filled by Dr. Thomas Thomson, F.R.S., the eminent chemist and mineralogist. In 1855 he became a life member of the British Associa- tion, on the occasion of its second meeting in Glasgow, and he long took a deep interest in its affairs, by serving on special committees, and otherwise. He was one of the founders, and subsequently president, of the Institu- tion of Engineers in Scotland (now Institution of Engi- neers and Shipbuilders), the birth of which took place in 1857, with Prof. Rankine as the first president. When the Institution of Naval Architects was formed in the year 1860, he became a member, and was honoured by a seat in its first council. Following the example of Prof. Roscoe in Manchester, a number of people of scientific proclivities, a few years. ago, originated the Glasgow Science Lectures Association, the first lecture of which was, appropriately, delivered by Roscoe himself. The movement in Glasgow met with very hearty co-operation from the deceased. His sympathy with scientific progress was shown in a great variety of ways; and as an inventor who had often to apply to the Patent Office, he was leagued with Sir William Thomson and others in the recent movements for bringing about a comprehensive reform of the patent laws. One of the leading features of Mr. Napier’s career was the unbroken intercourse, personal and_ professional, which was maintained between him and Prof. Rankine. They had numerous joint undertakings in experimental investigation, and each was of very great service to his fellow, and in the end to science. As might well be understood, to no person was Rankine’s too early decease a greater loss than to James R. Napier. JOHN MAYER : tw Fan. t, 1880] FERTILITY OF HYBRIDS “FROM THE COMMON AND CHINESE GOOSE N the “Origin of Species” I have given the case, on the excellent authority of Mr. Eyton, of hybrids from the common and Chinese goose (Amser cygnoides) being quite fertile z¢er se; and this is the most remark- able fact as yet recorded with respect to the fertility of hybrids, for many persons feel sceptical about the hare and the rabbit. I was therefore glad to have the oppor- tunity of repeating the trial, through the kindness of the Rev. Dr. Goodacre, who gave me a brother and sister hybrid from the same hatch. A union between these birds was therefore a shade closer than that made by Mr, Eyton, who coupled a brother and sister from different hatches. As there were tame geese at a neighbouring farm-house, and as my birds were apt to wander, they were confined in a large cage; but we found out after a time that a daily visit to a pond (during which time they were watched) was indispensable for the fertilisation of the eggs. The result was that three birds were hatched from the first set of eggs; two others were fully formed, but did not succeed in breaking through the shell; and the remaining first-laid eggs were unfertilised. From a second lot of eggs two birds were hatched. I should have thought that this small number of only five birds reared alive indicated some degree of infertility in the parents, had not Mr. Eyton reared eight hybrids from one set of eggs. My small success may perhaps be attri- buted in part to the confinement of the parents and their very close relationship. The five hybrids, grandchildren of the pure parents, were extremely fine birds, and re- sembled in every detail their hybrid parents. It ap- peared superfluous to test the fertility of these hybrids with either pure species, as this had been done by Dr. Goodacre; and every possible gradation between them may be commonly seen, according to Mr. Blyth and Capt. Hutton in India, and occasionally in England. The fact of these two species of geese breeding so freely together is remarkable from their distinctness, which has led some ornithologists to place them in sepa- rate genera or sub-genera. The Chinese goose differs conspicuously from the common goose in the knob at the base of the beak, which affects the shape of the skull; in the very long neck with a stripe of dark feathers running down it; in the number of the sacral vertebre; in the proportions of the sternum ;* markedly in the voice or “resonant trumpeting,” and, according to Mr. Dixon,? in the period of incubation, though this has been denied by others. In the wild state the two species inhabit different regions. I am aware that Dr. Goodacre is inclined to believe that Azser cygnoides is only a variety of the com- mon goose raised under domestication. He shows that in all the above indicated characters, parallel or almost parallel variations have arisen with other animals under domestication. But it would, I believe, be quite impos- sible to find so many concurrent and constant points of difference as the above, between any two domesticated varieties of the same species. classed as varieties, so might the horse and ass, or the hare and rabbit. The fertility of the hybrids in the present case probably depends to a limited degree (1) on the reproductive power of all the Anatide being very little affected by changed conditions, and (2) on both species having been long domesticated. For the view propounded by Pallas, that domestication tends to eliminate the almost universal sterility of species when intercrossed, becomes the more probable the more we learn about the history and multiple origin of most of our domesticated animals. This view, 1 Charlesworth’s ‘‘ Mag. of Nat. Hist.,”’ vol. iv., new series, 1840, p. go. = c. Eyton, ‘Remarks on the Skeletons of the Common and Chinese mae Ornamental and Domestic Poultry,’’ 1848, p. 85. 3 Dr. L. vy, Schrenck’s ‘‘ Reisen und Forschungen im Amur-Land,’ B. i. B. 457- NATURE \ If these two species are. 207 in so far as it can be trusted, removes a difficulty in the. acceptance of the descent-theory, for it shows that mutual sterility is no safe and immutable criterion of specific difference. We have, however, much better evidence on this head, in the fact of two individuals of the same form of heterostyled plants, which belong to the same species as certainly as do two individuals of any species, yielding when crossed fewer seeds than the normal number, and the plants raised from such seeds being, in the case of Lythrum salicaria,as sterile as are the most sterile hybrids. Down, December 15 CHARLES DARWIN CLOUD CLASSIFICATION* HE work of a meteorologist who has devoted himself with great diligence for many years to the study of the structure, forms, and movements of the clouds, possesses a strong claim on the attention of all who are interested in this difficult branch of science. Independently of the importance of the challenge which Prof. Poéy offers to an existing system of nomenclature, his book contains numerous facts and suggestions of very considerable scientific value. In the present enlarged and revised edition the author has endeavoured to satisfy the require- ments of our advancing knowledge on the subject of which he treats; a task which ought, unfortunately, to be. one of no great difficulty, owing to the small amount of progress which has been made in this, as compared with other departments of meteorology, since the appear- ance of the second edition. The history of cloud-nomenclature has been to a great extent a record of wrecks and casualties, because classifi- cation has, by an unfortunate necessity, preceded the knowledge of the physical structure of the objects classified. Prof. Poéy was one of the first to appreciate the importance of the fact that the terminology of the clouds must, ultimately, be based not simply upon the varieties of the forms of clouds, but upon those physical conditions to which these varieties are related. But our knowledge of the physical conditions which determine the development of the modifications of cloud is at the present time so limited that no classification founded thereon can as yet be unreservedly adopted. A great deal of questionable hypothesis necessarily enters into the construction of Prof. Poéy’s scheme, as he would, we believe, with the candour which distinguishes him, be the first to admit. There is of course a strong prima facie desirability that cloud observers should possess some definite system of nomenclature ; and at present nearly all of them, not of the lazy class, complain that cloud- classification is stillin a state of chaos. Yet it may be doubted whether, for some years to come, a Meteorological Congress will be able to establish an absolutely fixed system of classifization which will be universally accepted. Of the ground on which such a system should be built science has hitherto explored but a small portion ; and even where we have the materials for observational and experimental research in this direction, very inadequate use has been made of these materials. The immediately practical problem which is raised by the study of this book is this ;—In the provisional adaptation of our cloud classification to the status of our knowledge, is it desirable that Prof. Poéy’s terminology be adopted in lieu of that of Howard, or should the still prevailing nomenclature be retained, with such modifications as the observations of Poéy and of other students of the subject have as yet shown to be necessary? To this problem we shall venture in the present article to suggest an answer. : As might be expected from the condition of the subject the critical portion of Prof. Poéy’s treatise 15 more successful than the constructive. Several of Howard's terms have had from the first an ill-fated career. To Par André r «Comment on observe les Nuages pour prevoir le Temps.” Poéy. Third Edition, (Paris: Gauthier-V illars, 1879.) Fic. 2.— Stratus” with “ Fracto-stratus.”” $ OVE hetest Saal JAI } a ee p ie Saba SS Pi =< Mo r 5 T°. +. Bt a ad ” Thee 5 > 209 begin with, the name “stratus,” which has ever been the object of Poéy’s especial animadversion, was unluckily applied by Howard himself to ground fog. The result has been a curious condition of anarchy among the followers of Howard’s system up to the present day. The predicament in which these observers have found them- selves is this, One of the three primary cloud-names which Howard introduced is never, if his system be rigidly followed, to be applied to any object which most people call a cloud at all. It must be admitted that a fog and a cloud are, in structure, one and the same thing: a cleud is a fog viewed from without, and a fog is a cloud viewed from within, -But it is precisely because a fog is, in this sense, a cloud, and not a particular kind of cloud, that it is objectionable in practice to apply to a fog a specific cloud name. An observer may be for hours. together enveloped in a fog of the form of which he can discover nothing, except that the under surface necessarily follows the contour of the earth’s: surface. In a classification having reference to the shapes of clouds, it is undesirable to give to such a phenomenon a technical name distinctive of a special form of cloud. Prof. Poéy pertinently says “aucun observateur consciencieux ne voudra enregistrer sous le nom de ‘stratus’ un phénoméne de brouillard.” On the other hand, a very large class of clouds, occurring in every part of the globe, and in some parts actually the predominant type, have possessed in Howard’s terminology no appellation at all, viz., the clouds, neither:cumulus nor cirrus, which extend themselves ina bed or layer, whose vertical dimensions as compared with its horizontal are very small. A certain number of observers have freely applied the term “stratus” to this typeof cloud. » Others, Fic. 3.—" Mammato-cumulus.” perhaps more conservative, have created endless confusion by bestowing the name “cirro-stratus” on all clouds of the description to which we refer, while others again have wrought similar havoc by a corresponding misapplication of another of Howard’s compounds “ cumulo-stratus.” Finally, Prof. Hildebrandsson is driven to the revival of the “strato-cumulus’” of Kaemtz, as the title for the pre- vailing winter-cloud of Northern Europe.. Prof, Poéy’s remedy for this state. of things is to abolish: the term “stratus,” and to apply to all clouds which lie in beds the title “pallium.” The effort has already proved par- tially successful, for, owing to the defect in. Howard’s system, “pallium’’ and its compounds have to. some extent replaced, at least among American meteorologists, the “stratus”? of Howard and its compoundss. Ice- clouds disposed ina sheet or layer are to receive the name ‘‘pallio-cirrus” ;- water-clouds :the name}: pallio- cumulus.” We think Prof. Poéy’s objection to the word “stratus” as applied'to a. bed or layer of: cloud some- what ill-directed. The term (signifying ‘levelled,’ or “Jaid flat”) is in itself quite as expressive as “‘pallium’ (which does not so much involve the idea of the hori- zontal); and, however it may have been misapplied, we suspect that it will yet prove possessed: of too much respectability to be summarily ejected. Prof. Poéy would retain, inconsistently as it appears to us, ‘the: compound name “cirro-stratus,” but we have always found it extremely difficult to understand precisely what kind of cloud he means to describe under this name; or to recognise with any distinctness what is his idea of “nuage stratifié, the clouds which he terms “ stratified” being rather what most persons would call “striated.” Whenever cirrus becomes sufficiently extended to form a-veil or sheet, ituis to receive the name “‘pallio-cirrus.” Cirro-stratus’?as 210 NATURE something which floats at a higher level than “pallio- cirrus.” Looking at one of the figures in which “ cirro- stratus” is portrayed, we recognise only cirrus, tend- ing slightly to the form cirro-cumulus (Plate 3, Fig. 1). Some of the other representations convey the idea of clouds which would certainly be at a lower level than the usual veil or bed of extensive sheet-cirrus. Some readers may however be more fortunate than we have been in recognising the form of cloud which the author intends to designate as “‘cirro-stratus.” His theory of the formation of the varieties of clouds of the cirrus types is perhaps as clearly expressed in the following as in any passage in the book. ‘‘ Voici exactement ce qui se passe dans la nature : lorsque les cirrus s’abaissent, ils se transforment en cirro-stratus. Les aiguilles glacées de ce dernier nuage inférieur sont plus compactes et abondantes, plus définies et mieux géométriquement distribuées que les particules moins abondantes et plus isolées des cirrus supérieurs. Quand les cirro-stratus s’abaissent 4 leur tour, ils se transforment en cirro-cumulus: la structure neigeuse remplace la structure glacée par l’effet de la hausse de la température. Les cirro-cumulus en s’abaissant eux-mémes, se omen en pallio-cirrus ou en une couche neigeuse” (p. 29). The compound “cumulo-stratus’’? Prof. Poéy would get rid of. We believe that Howard had himself a clear idea of a distinct object when he employed this word ; but up to the present time, owing to indistinctness of verbal description, to ill luck as to illustrations, and to other accidents, the word has had a desperately unfortunate history, and Prof. Poéy’s objections to it consequently come with great force. It is no exaggeration to say that while we have seldom found two observers really agreed as to the object denoted by this word, we have known the word applied to every existing description of cloud, with the sole exception of unmistakable cirrus. Poéy’s word “tracto-cirrus,” the use of which he advocates whenever the cirrus-clouds arrange themselves in parallel bands, is an expressive term. But it is often extremely difficult to decide whether the cirri are or are not arranged in bands. And in treating the “ tracto- cirrus ” as if it always occupied a lower level in the atmo- sphere than cirrus, and the “ pallio-cirrus” as floating at a still lower level, the author appears to be straining physical fact in order to strengthen the basis of his classi- fication. There is, so far as we are aware, no evidence to show that whenever cirrus adopts, as it does in a majority of cases in most regions of the globe, the band form, it sinks in the atmosphere, and that a further sub- sidence takes place whenever it spreads itself into a veil or sheet. The word “nimbus” is to share the fate of stratus and cumulo-stratus. Here again we think the author would have been more successful if he had preferred reform to abolition. That two distinct beds of cloud, the one at a high, and the other at a low level, frequently exist when rain is falling, there is abundant evidence to show, and perhaps this is especially the case during extensive intra-tropical rains. But observers are at least equally agreed as to the fact that a bed of cirrus may coexist with a layer of low cloud, either with or without one or more intermediate layers, without the occurrence of rain or snow. And it is equally certain again that the majority of passing showers are produced in a single mass of cloud, not necessarily, and perhaps never, homogeneous in structure in the portions near the earth and in those which extend into the higher regions of the atmosphere, but certainly not divided into two ocularly distinguishable strata. These facts seem to be ignored by the author when he substitutes ‘‘ pallium” for “nimbus,” and then makes the rainy “ pallium” to consist in all cases of “pallio-cirrus ” superimposed upon “ pallio-cumulus.”’ As regards the term “ pallio-cumulus,’’ we are again obliged to hesitate in accepting it as a thoroughly descrip- tive title for a layer of low cloud, which has little in common with cumulus except that it occupies much the same level in the atmosphere. Another of the author’s terms, “ fracto-cumulus,” which he employs for those fragments of low cloud, which, though not themselves hemispherical, are nascent or potential cumuli, seems a useful word (perhaps only open to the slight objection that the affix would be liable, if Poéy’s system were adopted, to be confounded, especially in MS. reports, with his other affix tracto). His French equiva- lent “ nuage venteux” is, however, not sufficiently com- prehensive,and is open to the same objection as the English word “scud,” which involves the idea of rapid motion. The low cloud-fragments are not necessarily either the concomitants or the precursors of wind. A highly interesting section is devoted to the clouds which have been in England denominated “pocky clouds.” The fact that this name has been applied to several distinct varieties of clouds is certainly not unduly pressed by the author; in truth he scarcely appears adequately to realize the amount of misapprehension which has existed on the subject of these clouds. A Latin affix would certainly have the desirable effect of obliging the observer to give attention to the generic form of cloud from which hang the characteristic bladder-like protuberances ; thus clouds of the cirrus and of the cumulus type, presenting this peculiarity, would no longer be registered under a single title. But Poéy’s proposed affix “globo” does not appear satisfactory, for there is reason to suspect that some observers would be likely to apply it to any spherical or apparently spherical masses of cloud. How easily, in cloud terminology, misapprehension arises from the mere sound of a name the author himself in this very section illustrates, when he mistakes the “ roll-cumulus” of the English Meteorological Office for ill-developed pocky cloud, Beset with difficulty as all questions of cloud classifica- tion must necessarily be, we yet believe that at the present time, and for the present, a useful and unobjectionable compromise might be made between the systems of Howard and of Poéy. Stratus might, without dissolution, leave the surface of the earth, as it already has done in numerous meteoro- logical records, and be applied to all clouds, not of the cirrus type, which arrange themselves in a horizontal bed. Cirro-stratus would then form the descriptive title of the ice-clouds of the higher regions whenever these are disposed fh a bed, sheet, or veil. The terms cumulus and cirro-cumulus may remain undisturbed. If the title cumulo-stvatus have not received mortal injury from abuse, it might be applied to those peculiar descriptions of “mackerel cloud” or “nuage pommelé,” which are only at a moderate elevation, and are not in physical structure cirro-cumuli, a class of clouds which much need a distinctive title. If wzzdus is to be retained, it might be subdivided into its two essentially distinct varieties, the massive local shower-cloud, and the extensive bank of composite rain-cloud ; and for these varieties the titles cumulo-nimbus and strato-nimbus, or some equivalent expressions, might come into use. The expressive fracto-cumulus should have its place secured; and this affix of Poéy’s may have further applications ; detached pieces of those clouds which tend to arrange themselves in horizontal beds (pieces which are in no sense the nuclei of cumulus clouds), may conveniently be termed /racto- stratus, while to the little wavy or broken shreds of ice- cloud which Poéy seems to designate “cirro-strati,” the term jracto-cirrus might perhaps be applied. For the bizarre “pocky clouds,” which, though not nearly so rare as is usually suposed, are certainly not common, an affix, if descriptive, would be none the worse for being somewhat outlandish, and possibly “ #ammazto,” or even “ papillato,” might be acceptable. If the course suggested in the present article be adopted, no very serious changes will 1880 Fan. 1, 1880] ‘have to be made in the application of Howard’s ter- } minology, and no terms will have either to be coined or to be introduced from other systems of classification into j that of Howard, with the exception of the affix “ fracto,” and the affix “mammato’’ (or one equivalent to it). We have thought it desirable to give illustrations of the types of cloud to be distinguished by these last names. In the _ first sketch “cumulus’’ is shown with “ fracto-cumulus” ; in the second “stratus’’ with “fracto-stratus”; in the third the characteristic base of “mammato-cumulus’’ ; and in the fourth that of “ mammato-cirrus.’’ We are not without hopes that Prof. Poéy will be in- _ duced to give his aid to proposals of moderate reform in the direction above indicated. We are convinced that he will find it easier to modify, by limitations and ex- pansions, a long existing terminology, wherever the terms NATURE are essentially truthful and expressive, than to sweep it away and introduce another in its place. To return to the book under notice. “ How to classify the Clouds” would be a more descriptive title than that which it possesses. However, the reader who wishes to learn the art of cloud observation, with the view of learning to forecast the weather, will obtain valuable in- formation from the descriptions which the author founds upon his own observations, as well as from those which he quotes from other observers, ¢.g. the exquisitely truthful description of cirrus quoted from Bravais (pp. 64 and 65). Some of the remarks on the azimuthal rotation of the clouds in Havanna, and on other phenomena, ‘are well worthy of the attention of meteorologists. Here, e.g. is. an observation, which, taken in conjunction with the inclination of the axes of cyclones and anti-cyclones in- | oganaiaj an = dicated by cloud-observations in Europe, and also with the recent conclusions of Prof. Loomis as to the sequence of winds at the American mountain observatories, may point to an important general law ; “dans le plus grand nombre de cas, le vent anticipe sur les fracto-cumulus, ceux-ci sur les cirro-cumulus, et ces derniers sur les cirrus, A c’est-A-dire de bas en haut, au lieu d’étre de haut en bas. Ce fait parait contredire ’hypothése que les courants supérieurs déterminent, de proche en proche, le passage, sous le méme paralléle, des courants inférieurs jusqu’aux vents de surface” (p. 127). One who writes on a generally neglected subject, to which he has himself devoted much attention, is often tempted to accept too readily as grist anything that comes to his mill, and Prof. Poéy is not altogether free from this tendency, especially in those parts of his works in Fic. 4.—* Mammato-cirrus.” both on the theory of winds, and on the action of heat and of electricity upon the clouds. Stiil more to be regretted is a certain looseness, not so much of language as of con- } ception, which occasionally leads him to make some | surprising statements, as well as to employ inaccurate expressions. He usually speaks of the water-clouds as composed of aqueous vesicles, sometimes of vesicular vapour. In one passage, speaking of frozen clouds, he talks of the “ vesi- cular vapour passing from the state of particles of ice to those of snow ” (p.77). : A protest is necessary against his often repeated defini- tion of cumulus as a “cloud of the horizon.” He says (p. 23), “Nous pouvons assurer que, sous toutes les latitudes du globe, les cumulus sont spécifiquement des nuages d’¢/é, de jour, et de Vhorizon.” Andagain (p. 104), which he launches out into very questionable hypotheses | “Tls demeurent toujours confinés 4!’ horizon, et ne travers- 212 NATURE ¥ : > [ Zan. 1, 1880 ent jamais Ja région zénithale qu’ils n’atteignent méme pas. Cette seule circonstance distingue profondément les cumu- lus des fracto-cumulus.” Truly a profound distinction ! We had supposed that in regard to clouds, as in some other matters, “one man’s horizon is another man’s zenith.” Are cloud-classifiers really driven to such ex- tremities ? What would be thought of the botanist who appended to his description of the U/macee the statement that “the trees belonging to this family are objects seen upon the horizon,” and {then proceeded to meet the reasonable objection of the surprised reader by the remark that certainly the elm trees around his (the botanist’s) resi- dence, were all seen near the horizon? Yet this is how (p. 24) the author handles his descriptions of cumulus. (The fact of course is that the characteristic form of cumulus is not readily discernible when the cloud is near the zenith.) A somewhat similar remark, made by the author in explanation of the fact that a belt of cirrus, clearly visible towards opposite points of the horizon, is frequently invisible, or nearly so, overhead, a fact of which the optical explanation is obvious, is so strange that we must quote it. “ Nous lattribuons 4 l’extréme degré de froid que nous avons toujours observé dans la région zénithale, relativement aux autres azimuts. Sous cette basse température et cette extréme sécheresse, la vapeur d’eau se maintient 2 l'état élastique, et se précipite difficilement sous la forme de filaments extrémement ‘déliés. C’est pour cela que les cirrus sont plus rares, ee denses et passagers vers la région zénithale,’’ p. 69). It is with reluctance that we notice statements of this kind in a work the general idea of which we admire, and in the aim of which we cordially sympathise. W. CLEMENT LEY THE PLANETS OF THE SEASON MARS a the two great leaders of the planetary system have filled us with astonishment at their magnitude and velocity, and with perplexity in the contemplation of arrangements so incomprehensibly unlike our own, they have not exhausted all the resources of the season. There yet remains a much nearer and more intelligible neigh- bour, who possesses a peculiar interest for an opposite reason—his similarity to ourselves. This especial cha- racter of the ruddy planet has long been known to astronomers, and will naturally make him an object of careful study before we leave him too far behind ; and though the opposition of this year does not diminish his distance so much as that of 1877, yet his almost startling brilliancy has been alone enough to prove it among the favourable ones ; for English astronomers, at least, it is far more propitious than the last, from his greatly- increased elevation. Much had been expected at that last opposition from the broad expansion of his disk, but the indistinctness of detail was a general source of disap- pointment here, though the success of Schiaparelli at Milan and Green at Madeira showed that the fault lay chiefly—perhaps not exclusively—in the English sky. My own impression certainly then was that, besides the want of clear outline inseparable from so low an altitude, there was a deficiency in decidedness of form and strength of tone as compared with previous observations, the cause of which may have lain in the atmosphere of the planet, affected possibly by especial proximity to the sun in an orbit of considerable excentricity. At any rate, we may reasonably hope to find the present season more favour- able for exploration than the last ; for though at nearest approach we have only had 23” of disk instead of 29/'4 in 1877, success depends, with equal instrumental sharp- ness, much more upon altitude and steadiness of air than on increase of visible surface. Schiaparelli was enabled to obtain his most valuable results after opposition, when the diameter had decreased to 20” or even 16”, and he asserts that he was able to continue his researches with advantage even till it came down to less than 6”. - We have alluded to the special interest of this planet arising from its supposed close correspondence with the earth, and it may not be out of place on this occasion if we bestow a little pains in examining the ground of that supposition. This we may conveniently do by imagining what would be the telescopic aspect of our own globe at a distance not equal to that of Mars, as we should then appear about twice as large, but such as to reduce our apparent diameter to equality with his in a favourable opposition. There is every reason to believe that our surface would then appear mapped out by a distinct separation into oceans and continents, the fluid being darker than the solid masses, and preserving their bluish-green tinge but little affected by distance. Except in very shallow parts, their darkness would be uniform from the rapid absorp- tion of incident light, and their contour would be sharply defined. The general hue of the land would be lighter ; and at a distance where its variegated patches of colour would be separately undistinguishable, the result would be a grey resulting from the mixture of many tints, ex- cept where tracts such as the great deserts or prairies might subtend a sufficient angle to preserve their natural hue, or where extensive forests might rival seas in depth of tone. In many places, too, brilliant streaks and patches would show where mountain masses were capped with dense clouds, or surpassed the level of perpetual snow; but our largest rivers, except possibly at some great embouchure, would be totally imperceptible. Such, in its general lineaments, would be the distant aspect of our globe, if the whole lay at once distinctly before the eye. But this would never be the case, The formation and transference of masses of vapour would produce incessant and most uncertain changes. In some regions and at certain times of year there would be un- broken clearness ; in other tracts the outlines and colour- ing of land and sea would be indistinct, or concealed, at times for short, but occasionally for very lengthened, periods. And the interposition would doubtless be always of a white aspect, since such is the character of our clouds wherever they are illuminated by the sun. Towards our polar regions this whiteness would be permanent in the form of great spots, excentric as regards the axis of rotation, increasing through and after the winter, with a corresponding diminution after the summer solstice, There would always be, however, a large unmelted area, even at the warmest period, and its outlines would pro- bably be often irregular and extended from the presence of great masses of. frozen clouds. Now, if these would be the probable features of the earth, presented to us at a distance of seventy or eighty millions of miles, in what respects shall we be able to trace the resem- blance on Mars? Weare soon brought to the conclusion that, according to the general rule already referred to, there is more analogical than identical correspondence : the inclination of axis, the excentricity of orbit, the duration of day and night, the respective length of the seasons—from the relative similarity but not identity in these particulars, we are prepared to meet with the same kind of proportion throughout. As far as aspect goes, a solid and fluid condition may be thought to divide each superficies; but if so, the land there is in a much larger ratio to the water; and if the colour of our oceans is repeated on Mars, we have little to correspond with the orange-yellow tinge which, since it leaves unaffected the polar snows, cannot arise from atmospheric absorption. The so-called seas, too, though in some places apparently deep and dark, frequently shoal off and show subaqueous markings in a way that perhaps would be scarcely paral- leled in our own. 7 3 an, "ss 1880] ee NATURE Lge 213° In atmospheric conditions, indeed, we find great ap- _ proach to identity ; yet even here there are discrepancies ; the polar snows of the earth would probably not be dis- tinguishable from the upper surfaces of terrestrial clouds floating in any latitude, while on Mars such peculiar whiteness, though sometimes vividly brought out in certain localities, is by no means universally concurrent with the local indistinctness and confusion that so often puzzle the areographer. The action of solar heat on the polar deposits seems identical, and yet it may be a ques- tion whether our Arctic snows are marked out by as regular a contour as those of Mars, and still less would they show what has often been observed there—a strongly- marked border of darkness. And however striking and suggestive may be the fact that in either globe the thermal axis is not that of rotation, we have the. dis- crepancy that on Mars the glaciation is reduced in a much greater ratio, so that the pole, according to Schia- parelli, was, in 1877, entirely free. This observer, who is fully impressed with the terrestrial theory, admits that the vertical sunlight, instead of producing clouds, as on the earth, appears to clear the sky of Mars, and thinks the atmospheric changes there of a more simple nature. That the southern hemisphere would be subject to greater extremes of temperature than the opposite, as shown by the variation in size of the white caps, might have been expected as a direct consequence of the elliptical form of its orbit greatly surpassing our own. A passing reference will be sufficient to the brighter zone, which, according to some observers, distinguishes the edge of the disk, but which others, including myself, have never detected; or to the bluish or greenish patches sometimes noticed on the limb. Such appear- ances may be mere results of contrast ; at any rate they may be left on one side as not directly affecting our present comparison. But there is one consideration which cannot be thus disposed of, and which, obvious as it is, seems to have been taken little into account—the very different amount of solar radiation on the two planets. The heat derived from the sun on Mars is only from 4 to 3 of that received by ourselves. And thus we seem reduced to the alternative of either abandoning to a considerable extent the supposed closeness of resemblance in material and constitution, or of maintaining it by the hypothesis of a supply of heat on Mars derived in some other way. No ice such as ours would be so reduced by the unaided action of that distant sun— no terrestrial continents could remain so long unclothed with snow. The dilemma is a curious one. It may not be incapable of explanation, but it certainly requires more special and careful consideration than it has yet received. We have been looking at the subject much as though a supposed view of the earth at a suitable distance might be fairly paralleled with a corresponding representation of Mars as drawn by the best observers. But it must be added, with much regret, that such is not yet the case. As to certain main features of that planet, there is indeed a very satisfactory agreement ; but with regard to others, and as to details in general, we feel, as a first impression, some extent of disappointment. It may be fairly admitted that the disk is after all not large, and its markings often feeble ; and there is great diversity in instruments, and eyes, and hands, and aptitude for the work. Yet still an exhaustive survey, of which we cannot even indicate the materials in this place, but which we trust will be carried on, as it has been most ably commenced, by Dr. Terby of Louvain, would show much unexplained, and some things unsatisfactory. Midler laid the foundation of definite areo- graphy; but his successors, while enlarging, have not always confirmed his results, and, to say nothing of others who have bestowed much pains upon the subject with more or less mutual agreement, our own keen-eyed and accomplished Dawes—atleastasrepresented by Proctor—is found to differ in some parts materially from Lockyer, Kaiser, and Secchi. At the last opposition in 1877, the subject was taken in hand with especial zeal and perseverance by Schiaparelli at Milan with an exquisitely sharp Merz object-glass of 7°15 inches aperture and Io feet 8 inches focus, and by Green, who went out purposely to Madeira with a 13-inch mirror by With, the perfect polish and critical definition of which are sufficiently guaranteed by the maker’s name. Each did his best ; each was far in advance of the other observers of the season; and yet at first sight there is more apparent difference in their results than might have . been expected. It is not surprising that in the case of minute details each should have caught something pecu- liarly his own ; but there is a general want of resemblance not easily explained, till, on careful comparison, we find that much may be due to the different mode of viewing the same objects, to the different training of the observers, and to the different principles on which the delineation was undertaken. Green,an accomplished master of form and colour, has given a portraiture, the resemblance of which as a whole, commends itself to every eye familiar with the original. The Italian professor, on the other hand, inconvenienced by colour-blindness, but of micro- metric vision, commenced by actual measurement of sixty-two fundamental points, and carrying on his work with most commendable pertinacity, has plotted a sharply- outlined chart, which, whatever may be its fidelity, no one would at first imagine to be intended as a representation of Mars. His style is as unpleasantly conventional as that of Green indicates the pencil of an artist; the one has produced a picture, the othera plan. The discord- ance arising from such opposite modes of treatment would naturally be less real than apparent; still, a good deal remains that it is not easy to harmonise, Let us hope that during the present favourable opportunity, much may be effected towards clearing up the obscurities that still rest upon the study of Mars. Every contribution may prove of use, provided it is the result of that con- scientious spirit that will show only what it sees, and take care to show it well. A suggestion may be permitted that observations in the twilight might obviate the unpleasant glare arising from the vivid light of the disk, or that a screen-glass might be advantageously employed for the same purpose — at a later hour. Meanwhile the nomenclature of the spots—a point of increasing importance for identification—is ina state of pitiable confusion. This ought to be remedied at once ; and its revision could be more suitably intrusted to no one than to Dr. Terby, who so thoroughly knows its difficulties, and is so competent to decide upon some system that may be adopted with the general concurrence of observers. } With regard to the satellites, we have entered into so much detail about the primary, that little space remains for them. Yet we must express our hope that, once discovered, they may be more easily caught in our larger instruments, and that the magnificent reflector of Mr. Common may, as is very possible, increase their recog- nised number. Those already discovered are certainly among the most wonderful objects in the whole solar system. So disproportionally minute, according to our limited ideas of proportion ; so speedy in their revolution that.the innermost rises in the west and sets in the east, and compasses the whole heavens more than three times in a Martial day; so close that the same attendant ranges at less than 4,000 miles from the surface of his primary ; so much of their time invisible in total eclipse ; so power- less to influence any fluid mass beneath them ; one might call them exceptions, while yet they are among the strongest illustrations of the great principle of identity of character combined with the poract variety in detail, i i f the Creator. in the inscrutable work of t T. W. WEBB 214 RECORDING SUNSHINE* S° far as I have seen there is in use at present but one form of apparatus which effects an automatic regis- tration of the duration and the times of sunshine, and that is the instrument of Campbell, in which a sphere of glass is so disposed as to burn a piece of wood or paper by the concentration of his rays when the sun may chance to shine. During the past few years I have devoted some attention to this matter and devised a number of appli- ances having the same object for their end but differing materially both in their construction and in the manner of their use from the apparatus I have named. One of these, with your permission, I will now describe. It is an arrangement which places a lead pencil on a sheet of paper and writes down therewith when and for how long the sunshine lasts. It consists essentially of a differential thermometer with a long horizontal stem, in which latter is contained throughout the greater portion of its length some fluid intended to operate by its weight. This thermometer is attached to a scale beam or some equivalent device which also carries the pencil by means of which the record shall be made. The whole is so arranged that in its normal state it rests gently—upon that side to which the pencil is of attached—on an embankment provided for that end. Close beneath the pencil point a disk of metal rotated at the proper speed carries a paper dial whereon marks and figures are engraved corresponding with the hours at which the sun may shine. _ When using this instrument I have it inclosed within a box which permits one bulb only of the thermometer— that most distant from the clock—to be affected by the radiance of the sun, which when it shines expands the air contained therein, forces the fluid along the tube and by altering the equilibrium of the beam brings some portion of its weight to bear upon the pencil point, and so the record is commenced. When the sun becomes obscured, the air expanded by his rays contracts, the fluid in the tube returns, the normal equilibrium is restored, and the pencil ceases to produce its mark. In the instance of the instrument I use the stem of the thermometer is 18 inches long and the eighth of an inch or thereabouts in bore. Mercury in consideration of its weight is the fluid I employ, and in conjunction with it some sulphuric acid is inclosed, because of the mobility which is thereby gained. T am aware that in these circumstances mercuric sulphate is very slowly formed, but after two years’ lapse of time no inconvenience has been caused thereby and the mobility of the mercury remains. The bulbs of the thermometer are 2 inches in diameter or thereabouts, and that they may be more rapidly affected the glass thereof is thin. Both are blacked, and the one intended to receive the radiance of the sun projects above the box in which the apparatus is contained into a dome of glass. NOTES W. Herwortu Dixon died very suddenly early on Saturday morning. He was best known to us as a brilliant writer and speaker, and but comparatively few knew how profoundly, and with what patient determination he would sift the truth, alike of even the most well attested, as of the most apparently trivial fact, before making use of it in his work. Only those within the circle of his more intimate friends were aware how well he followed and how easily he grasped the progress of scientific thought. In this circle were several with whom and about whose labours he delighted to converse, and none could listen © Paper read at the Literary and Philosophical Society of Manchester by David Winstanley, F.R.A.S., November 18, 1879. NATURE had i [ Fan. 1, 1880. without benefiting by the practical views his vigorous intellect suggested, the more so as they were possibly induced by quite other claims of thought. These colunins have called attention to the ethnological value of his researches in America. His travels, especially those in the Far West, in the wilder parts of Russia, in the Holy Land, and in Cyprus, attended at times with personal risk, are full of suggestive interest to the scientific mind, and we may shortly to callsattention to some of the salient facts connected with natural science which they contain. In his early days he studied astronomy and kindred subjects, and it almost seemed at one period of his life that his bent would have led him more deeply into these researches, That this early inclination never forsook him, even those who knew him least, may gather from his attendance at the meetings of the British Association, his unremitting labours as chairman of the Palestine Exploration Fund, and his presence at numerous anniversary meetings of our learned societies, His surviving son, Harold, is already known as a teacher of natural science at Oxford University. THE death, on December 18, is announced of Prof. Franz Boll, who has filled the Chair of Physiology and Comparative Anatomy in the Roman University ; he was only thirty years of age. Born at New Brandenburg in February, 1849, he studied at Berlin and took his Doctor’s degree in medicine and surgery in 1869. When little more than twenty years old, he became assistant to Dubois-Reymond in his physiological laboratory at Berlin. Having been obliged on account of his health to seek the warmer climate of Italy, he was in 1873 offered an appoint- — ment in the Roman University, and in 1877 was, by the unanimous decision of the Commission of Examiners, elected to’ the chair he has since held. His researches regarding the arterial circulation of the retina are recognised as a most valuable contribution to physiological science. GENERAL surprise is naturally expressed that Dr. William Farr has not been appointed to succeed Major Graham as Registrar-General, Dr, Farr’s qualifications for the post are known to all the world; but it has been conferred upon Sir Brydges Henniker, Bart., for what reason we haye failed to discover. Itmust be regarded as an almost national misfortune, though it will surprise no one, that Dr, Farr has resigned his post as head of the statistical department. THE Hannoversche Courier announces that Leibnitz’s long- lost calculating machine has been recovered. Leibnitz invented and constructed this machine in 1672, during his stay in Paris. It can add, subtract, divide, and multiply, and was the wonder of the time. This machine became the property of the Hanover public library, but long ago disappeared from among its treasures, All that was known about its disappearance was that it had once been sent to an instrument maker at Gottingen to be repaired. It has now turned up again in the Gottingen library, and through the efforts of Dr. Bodemann, the librarian of the Hanover public library, has again come into the possession of the insti- tution. Ir is only about a year since we gave some account (NATURE, vol. xviii, p. 361) of the railway bridge which spans the Firth of Tay at Dundee, and on Sunday it was the scene of one of the most terrible railway accidents on record. With the details of this sad occurrence our readers are no doubt familiar ; for accu- rate information as to the prime cause we must await the search- ing inquiry which will no doubt be instituted. The structure appears to have been subjected to the most rigid tests before being opened to traffic, but we fear there must have been more than one screw loose somewhere. Upwards of 3,000 feet of the high girders are reported to have been swept away. One con- jecture is that the train had got well upon the girders when a = :. aust ‘of . 1, 1 880] | NATURE 215 greater strength had caught the structure. There would thus be, in addition to the ordinary vibration of the train, an enormous lateral pressure from the wind. The carriages of the “train would also, of course, feel the full force of the blast, and once the weakest part yielded the whole would go with a sudden crash, In a letter to the Glasgow Herald, Prof. Grant states that the storm of Sunday was the most violent in Scotland for thirty years, and that the rate of the wind about 7 P.M. was upwards of seventy miles per hour, equal to a pressure of forty- two pounds per square foot. No doubt there were frequent sudden gusts reaching a rate of ninety miles per hour, A Com- -tnission of Investigation has already been appointed. THE Zimes correspondent describes a visit he made to inspect Mr. Edison’s new electric light at Menlo Park. Two of the lights had been burning continuously for ten days without injury to the baked cardboard horseshoe in the little glass globe which furnishes the light. Cardboard, he states, seems suffi- ciently durable, successfully resisting quite rough usage, such as dropping, shaking, turning the current on and off thousands of times, and raising the intensity of light to that of 400 candles. All the arrangements are simple. Mr. Edison will put about 800 lights at Menlo Park, while the inventions immediately go into practical operation in New York city. The globe contain- jng the horseshoe is exhausted to one-millionth of an atmosphere by the Sprengel pump, measured by the M’Leod gauge. By successfully dividing the electric current Mr. Edison gets indi- vidual lamps of 16-candle power, each lamp haying 100 ohms resistance. Light is turned on or off, and the current regulated with the same ease as gas is, while the current can be transmitted on wire as small as No. 36. The central regulator contains an even current, while the meters accurately measure the supply furnished to each consumer. Mr. Edison finds that the best generators are of five to seven horse power, each one-horse power maintaining eight lamps. Each lamp costs about one shilling to manufacture, while a supply equivalent to 10,000 feet of gas can be produced for tenpence or less. Mr, Edison calculates the cost of furnishing light thus :—the consumption of 3 lb. of coal in a steam engine will maintain eight to ten lamps one hour. Mr, Edison’s system also furnishes electric power for small industries, such as running sewing machines, Mr. _Edison’s light is bright, clear, mellow, regular, free from flickering or pulsations, while the observer gets more satisfaction from it than from gas. Mr. Edison lights at Menlo Park, dwellings, offices, desks, street-lamps, also laboratory and work- shop, making it available for every lighting purpose for which gas is used. Proressors C. A. F, PeTers (director of Kiel Observatory) and Albert von K6lliker (Wiirzburg) have been decorated by the King of Bavaria with the Maximilian Order for Art and Science. THE death is announced of Dr. Alexander Sadebeck, of Kiel, professor of mineralogy and geology at Kiel University, on December 9, 1879, at the early age of thirty-six years. Tue Emperor of Austria has presented the Austrian Gold Medal for Arts and Sciences to Herr Wilhelm Hoffmann, of Dresdea, in recognition of his merits in adyancing the art of photography. On January 2, 1882, the University of Wiirzburg will cele- brate the 300th anniversary of its foundation, The Bavarian Government had intended to set aside a sum of 2,000/, to defray the expenses of the celebration. The Finance Committee of the Bavarian House of Deputies have, however, declined to allow the sum in question. THE two first parts of an interesting work, ‘* Bibliotheca Belgica: Bibliographie générale des Pays Bas,” have just been Russian peninsula of Kertch. published, The editor is M. Ferd. van der Haeghen, librarian of Ghent University. The work will contain (1) the description of all works printed in the Netherlands during the fifteenth and sixteenth ‘centuries, as well as of the principal ones printed between’ 1600 and 1879; (2) a description of all works whose authors are born Netherlanders, as well as of all works printed abroad which refer to the Netherlands ; (3) a list of all the works printed by Netherlanders who settled abroad. A HIGHLY interesting discovery has recently been made on the The director of the Kertch Museum discovered a tomb dating from the third century B.c., and from the reign of Persidas II., King of the Bosphorus. The ~ tomb is situated on the road from Temruk and near the Sennaja Station. In it were found (1) a thick gold necklace, with a lion’s head at each end ; (2) a gold crown of about one inch in breadth, the exterior part being formed ‘of intertwisted rings» and ornamented with fine stones ; (3) several pairs of gold ear™ rings ; (4) two gold chains, of which one is ornamented with figures ; (5) two gold bracelets ; (6) a round gold brooch, and a gold pin representing Venus and Cupid ; (7) four gold leaves ; (8) a pearl necklace, some amulets, and three small gold rings ; (9) a phial, an urn, a vase, a spoon, &c.—all these of silver. THE opening meeting of the Epping Forest and County of Essex Naturalists’ Field Club will be held on Saturday evening, January 10, at the rooms of the Buckhurst Hill Art Classes, 3, St. John’s Terrace, at seven o’clock. The objects of the club, as set forth in the proposed rules, are as follows :—‘‘ The inyesti- gation of the natural history, geology, and archzeology of the County of Essex (special attention being given to the fauna, flora, “geology, and antiquities of Epping Forest), the publica- tion of the results of such investigations, the formation of a library of works of local interest and other publications, and the dissemination amongst its members of information on natural science and antiquities.” Excursions, under skilful direction, to yarious localities of interest to the naturalist and antiquary, will also be a main object of the Club. The Club will strongly dis- courage the practice of remoying rare plants from the localities where they are to be found or of which they are characteristic, and of risking the extermination of rare birds and other animals by wanton persecution ; it will also endeavour to use its influence with landowners and others for the protection of the same, and to dispel the prejudices which are leading to their destruction. In like manner the club will endeavour to cultivate a fuller knowledge of local antiquities, historical, popular, and idiomatic, and to promote a taste for carefully preserving the monuments of the past from wanton injury. Considering the fine field offered to the biologist in Epping Forest and the surrounding country, it is certainly a matter of surprise that a society similar to that now in process of formation was not long since founded. We trust the club will meet ample support. TuE latest news from the St. Gothard Tunnel states that the thickness of the soft strata recently encountered was only ten metres, and that the boring machines are again at work on solid and firm rock. AN earthquake is reported from Agram. It occurred during the night of December 8, 1879, and lasted three seconds. Another phenomenon of the same nature was observed at Seisenberg (Carniola) on December 4, at 6.45 A.M., lasting two seconds. The direction of the shock was from north to south. Ten minutes later a second shock was felt, The inten- sity of the shocks was alarming. A smart shock was felt at Geneva on December 30, at 12.15 P.M. Several shocks were felt on December 26, at Lyons, where the winter has been exceptionally severe. Tue Zimes correspondent describes an eruption of Vesuvius on the night of December 18, 1879. The mountain has been in NATURE 216 an uneasy state for several years, and slight eruptions have con- stantly taken place ; but the climax seemed to have been arrived at on the 17th, when Vesuvius changed its mantle of snow for one of fire. As the wind blew furiously from the north-east, the lava descended in the direction of Portici, covering a large portion of the cone and presenting a magnificent spectacle. On the 18th there was less disturbance; but even in its state of greatest activity the mountain made none of those awful efforts which form a grand eruption. There were some local shocks, and a heavy breathing from the furnace, but there was no tremendous explosion. The cup was full, and it flowed over. This flowing over, however, if continued to great excess, may produce far greater disasters than a roaring discharge which finishes the whole business. Prof, Palmieri’s reports of Mount Vesuvius state that the present modest eruption has lasted: since 1875. It commenced at the bottom of the vast and deep crater left after the eruption of 1872, and was therefore only visible to those who ascended to the summit of the mountain, But now this crater is filled up by the new lava which flowed at successive periods, and therefore the fresh streams which issue from the eruptive cone flow down the external parts of the mountain, generally on the side towards Naples. The new eruptive cone has gradually increased in height until it now protrudes about fifty feet above the edge of the old crater, WriTING to the Western Daily Press under the date of December 22, 1879, Prof. Silvanus Thompson says :—I had the opportunity about half-past ten this morning of witnessing from Clifton Down a phenomenon which enjoys the repute of being very rare. The entire gorge of the Avon was filled with mist, so that the river in the bottom and the Leigh Woods opposite were quite obscured, Standing on the western extremity of the Observatory Hill, I observed a dim gigantic figure apparently standing out through the mist upon one of the lower slopes of Clifton Down, where it runs down in undulating ridges from the promenade towards the river. A moment’s glance sufficed to show me that it was my own shadow on the mist, and as I waved my arms about the gaunt spectre followed every movement. A gentleman who stood beside me likewise saw his spectre, but not mine, as we ascertained by the movements executed ; nor could I see his, unless we stood so close together that the spectres seemed combined into one. The analogy presented by these spectres with the famous Spectre of the Brocken, seen by travellers in the level rays of the morning sun from the summit of that celebrated mountain, and described by Sir David Brewster in his ‘‘ Letters on Natural Magic,” is very striking. A PRIZE of 200/, has been offered by the Rey. E. Wyatt Edgell, through the Sanitary Institute of Great Britain, for the best essay that may be sent in by August 1 next, on “‘ The Cause of Hereditary Tendencies in Health and Disease.” The subject is of first importance in its bearings not only on personal but on natural health, and the Council of the Institute expects to receive many valuable contributions in competition. It only regrets that the generous donor, who for a long time has filled the office of Honorary Treasurer of the Institute, is obliged to resign office owing to a state of impaired health, which demands for a time residence abroad. The Chairman of Council of the Institute, Dr. Benjamin W. Richardson, F.R.S., and Dr. W. Farr, F.R.S., are appointed adjudicators of the prize. Pror, F. W. Hurron, of Dunedin, New Zealand, has been appointed to fill the new Chair of Biology in the Canterbury College at Christchurch, In consequence of this move the Chair of Natural Science in the Otago University is vacant. We have not heard what steps are being taken to fill it. A REMARKABLE anthropological discovery has recently been made at Sypniewo, near Marienwerder -(Prussia),- by Herr Wilckens, In.a bronze cauldron which was imbedded in‘the ground several feet deep, were found calcined human bones (apparently both male and female), a golden hoop, an open necklace with hook and eye, two squareysticks of greenish glass with marks on them, similar to the eyes of dice, twenty button- like ball segments without holes, four bronze plates, and frag- ments of some metal implements evidently burnt with the bodies, The articles seem to be of old Etruscan or Phcenician workman- ship, and are now in the hands of the Historical Society of Marienwerder. ‘WATER ANALYSIS,” by Prof, Frankland, a long-promised contribution to an important question, will be published during January, by Mr. Van Voorst. IN reporting the reception of Prof, Nordenskjéld and the staff of the Vega at Nagasaki, the correspondent of the Worth Chine fferald notes that there was not a single case of scurvy during the whole voyage, ‘This, he learns, was owing to the free use of a curious little berry that springs out of the eternal ice and snow during the short summer; it bears profusely, and has a taste like the raspberry, but more acid. The fruit is dried, and then mixed with the milk of the reindeer, and it can be carried in a frozen state for thousands of miles. There was also used a curious kind of food made from the whale’s hide, which is pickled and eaten freely during the winter. THE additions to the Zoological Society’s Gardens during the past week include a Yellow Conure (Conurus solstitialis) from Guiana, received in exchange; a Vulpine Phalanger (Phalangiste vulpina), a Geoffroy’s Dove (Leristera geoffroit), bred in the Gardens, GEOGRAPHICAL NOTES THE eminent Russo-German traveller, Dr. Wilhelm Junker, well known by his successful tours in the Nile districts, left Cairo for. Chartum on December 1. He travels vi@ Suez and Suakin, and hopes during the present winter to reach the Upper Nile districts beyond Chartum. This time the Monbuttu land will form the basis of his operations, and he intends to penetrate into the interior in the direction of the Congo or the Schari rivers, Dr. GERHARD ROHLFs has arrived at Rome on his return from North Africa. THE expedition charged with the investigation of the question whether it is possible to conduct the waters of the Amu Daria into the Caspian Sea has started from St. Petersburg. General A. J. Gluchowski is commander of the Expedition, and M. Holmstrem acts as chief engineer. MM. Bole, Svichtchoff, and Macsimovich are assistant engineers. Prince Gedroitz takes part in the expedition in the capacity of geologist. These gentlemen will be joined by Capt, Roop, from Turkestan, and by Engineer Hellmann, from the Caucasus. The company will first proceed to the delta of the Amu Daria, and then begin the investigation of the river’s course and of the surrounding territory, with regard to elevation, geology, &c., &c. It is considered that two or three years will be necessary for collecting the materials to finally decide the question. Pro¥, BASTIAN has arrived at Batavia. He has made im- portant ethnological and anthropological researches in Assam, and has also brought together a valuable collection of illustrative specimens. He then continued his studies in the Padang Islands, and will now do the same on the island of Java, THE Geographical Society of Hamburg has elected the well- known author of numerous descriptions of travels, cities, and countries, Herr Ernst von Hesse Wartegg, as a corresponding member, Tue Archbishop of Algiers has received from Zanzibar favourable reports of the eighteen missionaries who left Algeria last June and had reached Ugogo, as also of the missionaries sent out last year for Tanganyika. The latter had lost their superior, Pére Pascal, but had arrived at Ujiji and had been well received there by the English mission and the Arab chiefs. They had explored Urundi, a rich region, which they depict in altogether different colours from Stanley, and by invitation of be 207 the Sultan of Bikari they had established a station, commencing ||| _ operations by rescuing abandoned infants, | The Abbé» Debzaize, on the other hand, had. been twice deserted: by his porters, had. been plundered of a great part of his outfit, and had returned sick and discouraged to Ujiji, where’ the Algerian and» English missions were nursing bim. It was not known whether ‘he would recommence the exploration intrusted to him by the French Government. THE death is announced of Prof. Wappzus, of Gottingen, an.industrious German geographer, THE newly-established Geographical Society of Rochefort has just issued the first number of their Bzd/e/iz, the more note- worthy contents of which are a paper by M. L. Delavaud on the Portuguese in Central Africa before the seventeenth century, and another by M. Silvestre on Indo-China. ON THE HETEROSTYLISM OF “MELOCHIA PARVIFOLIA” {ELOCHTA PARVIFOLIA, H.B.K., (nova gen. et spec., pl. v., 325) isa very common plant on the dry plains in the neighbourhood.of Caracas, where it flowers nearly all the year round, and not only in the month of January, as Kunth says in his description, which in all other respects is a very complete and good one. I was led to notice the heterostylism of this plant when comparing carefully Kunth’s words with a specimen I had brought home. Humboldt’s specimen belonged to the long- styled form, for Kunth says :—Stamina petalis dimidio breviora, Styli longitudine petalorum, Mine was short-styled, so that I found these proportions to be inverse. I searched immediately our sadanas (or plains) for long-styled plants, and. came at once across a considerable number of both forms. A comparison of their flowers gives the following result :— Short-styled Flowers. | Long-styled Flowers: 1. Stamens as long as the | 1. Stamens-half as long as the petals. petals. 2. Styles scarcely half as long | 2. Styles as long as the petals. as the stamens. |°3. Stigmata with many and 3: Stigmata with few and short rather Jong papillz. papillze. | 4. Styles with stellate hairs, 4. Styles without stellate hairs. 5. Pollen grains :— a. Dry, globular, diam. 5. Pollen grains :— a. Dry, elliptical, obtusely triangular in cross- 0°044mm, section, diam, 0°044 x 6, In water, globular, | 07024 mm, diam, 0°060 mm. } 6, In water, globular, c. In ale. abs., globular, | diam, 0°052.mm, diam. 0'036 mm. c. Inale. abs., elliptical, | diam, 0'040.x 0°028 | mm, (My measurements were made with a glass micrometer by Oberhaurer, five divisions of which are equal to 0°02 millimetres for the enlargement I used.) It would appear that the protoplasm of the pollen-grains of the short-styled form contains a larger percentage of water, their size shrinking more in alcohol than that of the pollen-grains of the long-styled form. Althongh the heterostylism of Aélochia parvifolia might be fairly admitted from the stated morphological differences, I was desirous to try by experiments whether there was also a func- tional difference, as Darwin and Hildebrand have done in the case of other heterostyled plants. Both forms of Alélochia parvifolia seem to be equally common in our flora. This I ascertained in the following manner :—On the Sabana de San Ldzaro, where this plant ‘constitutes all the higher vegetation, together with Turnera ulmifolia, Pavonia cancellata, and Hyptis suaveolens, all the plants of Melochia were examined in a square, the side of which was too ‘steps. There were altogether forty-two plants, twenty with long-styled flowers, and twenty-two with short-styled ones. In one single plant of the former two short-styled flowers were discovered, in all the rest each plant had ‘only one kind of flower, I collected seeds from both forms, and began last year my experiments by sowing them in cases placed in one of the yards of my house in town. This circumstancet was perhaps of some consequence, the yard being surrounded by walls 12 feet high, so that there could be next to nothing of the influence of the wind, just the reverse as in the open field, _ Ten seeds taken from plants with: long-styled flowers produced eight plants, which this year flowered, all the flowers being long~ styled ones. - Ten seeds of the short-styled form gave nine plants; two of these perished before setting | flowers; the remainder produced. ‘in'due time a large number of short-styled blossoms, - The last summer was very rainy, thus not at all favourable to experimental research connected with artificial fecundationy However, I tried my best, and obtained the results given in the following table, which is constructed according to Darwin's models in his ‘* Forms of Flowers” :— he wo Bw , |S o peu | Say| cealbeee Nature of union. 2 33 22 g Sis = £3 2B) Ze" | 28" | faa l|saee lis Fm eae (2h) a. Long-styled form by pollea of short-styled saa, See 12 51] 100 4. Long-styled form by own-form | pollen, from a distinct plant'| 10 8 3°5 80° ¢. Long-styled form by pollen’) from the same flower* ... 6 I 5 | 166 d. Short-styled form “by pollen of long-styled ....... ....| 12 12 5 | treo é. Short-styled form by own- form pollen from a distinct | plaht ojiccd.4 ote cee 10 9 3°3 90 Ff. Skort-styled form by pollen from thesame flower? ... 8 6 4 75 Cases a and d together (legi- | timate unions) ..2 s. . /.| 24 24. 5 Ico Cases 6. and ¢ together (ille- gitimate unions)» ... ....| 20 17 34 85 Cases c and 7 together (ille- gitimate unions) eae ee oP ata) 3°6 50 I think the favourable influence of cross-fertilisation is evident, as in no other case the average number-of seeds per capsule reached the #ormad number, although’ there» were some few capsules in the other crops which also contained five seeds. In the open field the flowers of Afelochia parvifoliz are visited by large numbers’ of! small hymenoptera, which fly about during the hottest hours of the day, when these flowers are open. They have no particular smell, and fade very soon; on cloudy or rainy days they do not open at all, so that not a few wither before getting fertilised, which accounts: for the considerable number of seedless capsules to be found on nearly every plant. The seeds of my-crop appeared to be of good quality (their specific weight being greater'than that of water). I have sown them already in separate lots, in order to find out how far they will germinate and produce strong and healthy plants, and which forms of flowers these latter will have, A, ERNST Caracas, November 2 UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL INTELLIGENCE CAMBRIDGE.—Next term, at Cambridge, practical anatomy in the dissecting-room. will commence on January 17, The professor of anatomy is to be assigned (as to his fellowship) to King’s College, and not to Caius,.as originally proposed ; it was thought more advisable not to assign two professorial fellowships in medical science to Caius, but rather to divide the association. Prof, Paget is especially fitted to receive further honour from Caius. College,, and.we trust he will ultimately attain the mastership. Prof. Newton announces that his lectures will recommence on February 2; and the demonstrator will take an advanced class on Sauropsida, beginning on the same day, = Normal number of seeds in Melochia parvifolia. , 2 The plant was left to itself, foreign pollen being excluded by a fine muslin-bag tied around it. The numbers show that self-fertilisation- was difficult in this-case _ though as npens fala eee winds has its full i i er mor - «2 oA The si eli a eal ech in tke foregoing note. Self-fertilisation is no doubt easier in this case; but the result of the crop was not very-good- oA | 218 NATURE - : 2 "AS (Yan. 1, 1880 ~ Candidates for the natural science scholarship at Clare College are to be examined in chemistry and chemical physics, without restrictions in age. » At King’s College any candidates for honours are now re- ceived, a great improvement on the old exclusiveness. The Vintner exhibition for natural science is worth 90/, a year, but only candidates under twenty, and British subjects, may com- pete, also undergraduates of the College in their first or second year. The scholarships are to be held till M.A. standing, or until election to a fellowship. Candidates in natural science must notify before March 1 in what branches of natural science they wish to be examined. Every encouragement is now offered to selected candidates for the Indian Civil Service. It having been decided that there should be a memorial to Prof. Clerk Maxwell, it might be suggested that a Maxwell university scholarship in experimental and molecular physics would be a great benefit, as there are scarcely any mathematical or natural science competitions open to the University. Let it be given for a specified research, rather than spend it on a posthumous bust or portrait. MancHEsTER.—Mr. J. E. A. Steggall, B.A., scholar of Trinity College, Cambridge, mathematical master at Clifton College, Bristol, has been appointed to the Fielden lectureship in mathematics in the Owens College, vacant by the appoint- ment of Mr. A. T. Bentley, M.A., to the principalship of the Firth College, Sheffield. Mr. Steggall graduated as second wrangler in January, 1878, and subsequently gained the First Smith’s Prize. There were twenty candidates, WE have received a very favourable report from the Liverpool School of Science, which now numbers 800 students. Before long it is hoped that a central college may be established in Liverpool, from which all existing branches with extensions may be worked. TueE Kaiser Wilhelm University at Strassburg is seemingly becoming popular in Germany. During the last term the number of students rose to 810, this being the largest number reached since the University was inaugurated. EE SCIENTIFIC SERIALS Annalen der Physik und Chemie, No. 11, 1879.—This opens with a valuable contribution by Herr Hagenbach in support of Stokes’s law, the validity of which has been somewhat contro- verted recently. The author regards Lommel’s division of fluorescent bodies as based on no essentially different behaviour of them,—Some curious experiments on electric perforation of glass are described in papers by Herren Mach and Doubraya, and Herr Waltenhofen ; the latter considers the phenomenon as ‘‘a mechanical work taking place at cost of the vs viva of the colliding air-molecules at the part perforated, and this trans- formation of energy is evidently more easily effected the stronger the molecular motions ; which, when they meet an obstacle, are suddenly checked.” Herr Doubrava also writes onthe motion of plates between the electrodes of the Holtz machine.—A series of experiments, by Herr L. Weber, with electricity of high tension used in the telephone, seem to clear up some sources of error in like observations by other physicists, to give new proof of the availability of the telephone for observ- ing weak periodic discharges of a conductor, and to illustrate the conception of Helmholtz and others as to electric movements in an induction circuit and electrolytes inserted in it.—The rela- tions between velocity of rotation, resistance, current strength, and electromotive force, in the Gramme machine, are set forth by Herr Meyer and Herr Auerbach.—Other papers :—On the true theory of Fresnel’s interference phenomena, by Herr F. Weber.—On the relation between galvanic resistance and specific heat, by Herr Auerbach.—On extra currents in iron wires, by Herr Herwig.—Experimental researches in determination of the indices of refraction of liquefied gases, by Herr Bleekrode.— Influence of temperature on tuning-forks, by Herr Kayser.—On galvanic conduction of metallic alloys, by Herr Elsasser.—On phosphorescence-phenomena, by Herr Stiirtz. Gazetta Chimica Ttaliana, fasc. x. 1879.—Researches on cobalt and nickel, and methods for distinguishing them when mixed, by Dr. Papasogli.—On the constitution of ellagic acid, by S. Schiff,—On determination of acetyl by means of magnesia, by the same.—Ozone with some noble metals, by Prof. Volta.— On paraoxymethylphenyl-cinnamic acid, and on oxymethyl- stilbene, by Dr, Oglialoro.—On the action of perchloride of phosphorus on molybdic anhydrides, by S. Piutti—On some derivatives of naphtols, by S. Marchetti.—Researches on the diffusion of copper in the animal kingdom, by Dr. Giunti—On amines corresponding to a toluic alcohol, by Dr. Spica.—On the preparation of hydroxylamine, by Dr. Bertoni.—Transfor- mation of hydroxylamine into nitrous and nitric acid, by Dr. Bertoni.—On an easy and rapid process for determining at any time the nitrogen, sulphur and chlorine, in organic substances, by Dr. Spica. ‘ Bulletin de VAcadémie Royale des Sciences de Belgique, Nos. 9 and 10.—M. Montigny here describes a case of super- numeraryrainbows which were only visible at the lower extremities. of the principal bow (a phenomenon overlooked in works on meteorology).—M. van Mensbrugghe shows how the ventral and nodal appearances of liquid veins may be explained on principles. he lately enunciated.—Dr. Jorissen contributes a note on the employment of chloride of zine as reagent for certain alkaloids, glucosides, &c, SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES LonDON Royal Society, December 18, 1879.—‘‘ Chemico-Electric Relations of Metals in Solutions of Salts of Potassium,” by G. Gore, LL.D., F.R.S. In this investigation the author has determined the chemico- electric positions of about twenty-four elementary substances in a number of solutions, of various degrees of strength, and both cold and hot, of chloride, bromide, iodide, and cyanide of potassium, and has drawn from the results of the experiments various general conclusions. The results are exhibited in a series of tables. The experiments were made with the intention of also determining by means of a capillary electrometer the quantitative differences of electromotive force between each two consecutive elementary substances of the entire series ; but after making many attempts the author was unable to construct such a form of that instrument as might be relied upon for accurately measuring such differences. Chemical Society, December 18, 1879.—Mr. Warren De La Rue, president, in the chair.—The following papers were read :—On the specific volume of water of crystallisation, by T. E. Thorpe and J. J. Watts. Some years ago Playfair and Joule pointed out that the volumes of certain highly hydrated salts, for example, sodium carbonate with ten molecules of water, are equal to that of the water, considered as ice, ‘which they respectively contain. This law does not hold good for salts less highly hydrated. The authors of the present paper have determined the precise relations between the specific volumes of various sulphates of copper, magnesium, zinc, nickel, cobalt, iron, and manganese, and their respective degrees of hydration. They conclude that in the case, at least of the so-called magnesian sulphates, the volume occupied by the several molecules of water varies with the degree of hydration. The first molecule occupies less bulk than any other, its mean relative value is 10°7, the value of the second molecule being 13°3, of the third 14°5, the fourth 154, the fifth 15°6, the sixth 15°7, the seventh 16°2, These results accord with the fact that the different molecules of water in a hydrated salt are held with various degrees of tenacity. The authors point out the import- ance of estimating the amounts of heat resulting from the com- bination of successive molecules of water.—Note on the formation of ozone during the slow oxidation of phosphorus, by H. McLeod. The active substance formed during the slow oxidation of phosphorus is probably either ozone or peroxide of hydrogen. Air in which phosphorus is slowly oxidising, was drawn through a U-tube 93 inches long (filled with fragments of glass containing in succession sodic carbonate, a mixture of potassic bichromate and sulphuric acid, and potassic per- manganate), the U-tube was at the temperature of the air or at too’ C., in both cases the gas which passed through rendered blue a solution of potassic iodide and starch, hydroxyl under these circumstances would be completely decomposed. In another series of experiments the gas was passed through a narrow U-tube heated to 150° to 200° C., but no water was formed. It is extremely improbable that ozone and hydroxyl are simultaneously formed, as these substances decompose each other, The author therefore concludes that the gas obtained during the slow oxidation of phosphorus possesses the properties. of ozone and not those of hydroxyl, the only known peroxide of hydrogen.—On the analysis of organic bodies containing 219 nitrogen, by W. TH. Perkin. The author proposes to sub- stitute for the freshly reduced metallic copper, which has severa disadvantages (such as being hygroscopic, occluding iron, &c.), roughly powdered or granulated potassic chromate, About 4 to 7 inches of this substance are placed in the front of the combustion tube and maintained at a low red heat. All nitrous fumes are completely absorbed, whilst no effect is produced on the carbonic acid determination. The salt can be readily dried. It also absorbs sulphurous acid completely. Linnean Society, December 18, 1879,—Prof. Allman, F.R.S., president, in the chair.—Mr. B. Daydon Jackson ex- hibited series of the various editions of Dillenius’s ‘‘ Historia Muscorum,” Oxford, 1741, and its reprint, Edinburgh, 1811, in illustration of the following communication.—The Rev. J. M. Crombie read a paper on the lichens of Dillenius’s ‘‘ Historia Muscorum,” as illustrated by his herbarium. This latter collec- tion is preserved in the Botanic Gardens at Oxford, and the specimens, though well nigh 150 years old, are still in a fair state of preservation. The intrinsic value of Dillenius’s material rests in the fact of the earlier writers on cryptogamic botany referring constantly, in their synonomy and nomenclature, to his descriptions ; hence the importance of an accurate knowledge of the collection, to judge from a present standard, in how far his descriptions and figures agree with the specimens themselves. No systematic examination has hitherto been made, though some old writers have compared certain of the forms. While the Dillenian lichens identified are, as a whole, now found to bear considerable accuracy with his descriptions and figures, yet serious mistakes have crept in. Mr. Crombie gives technical data and details of the series, and adds a conspectus for refer- ence to workers on lichens who have not Dillenius’s volumes and figures at hand.—Prof. Allman then gave a description of what appears to be true sense-organs in the hydroids. In one form the organ in question is a bulb, with rod-like structures and a series of radiating filaments. These latter terminate in conical bodies containing filaments which resemble thread-cells, though differing physiologically, Another form is met with in a Medusa (Gemmellaria), where free, club-topped filaments con- stantly in motion are attached to the tentacles, and possess sacs with thread-cells, but incapable of being exserted. Prof, Allman suggests the term Podocysts for these, and says, from his observations in M/yriothela and other genera, they have a wide extension among the hydroids.—Mr. H. Seebohm was elected a Fellow of the Society, and Messrs. A. D. Bartlett (Zool. Gard.), N. E, Brown (Kew Herb.), and F. H. Waterhouse (Librarian, Z.S.) were balloted for and elected Associates. Entomological Society, December 3, 1879.—J. W. Dunning, F.L.S., vice-president, in the chair.—Mr. Howard Vaughan exhibited a series of extreme varieties of Zycena corydon which had been taken at Dover.—Mr. W. L. Distant exhibited a hitherto unrecorded variety of Danais flexifpus (commonly known as D. archippus) received from Antigua.—Mr. T. R. Billups exhibited some rare British beetles, and a specimen of Carabus auratus taken in the Borough Market.—Mr. C. O. Waterhouse communicated some interesting details as to tenacity of life in Curculio cleonus.—The Rey. H. S. Gorham read a paper entitled ‘‘ Materials for a Revision of the Lampyridz,” Mr. Bates, in connection with the light-emitting power of this family, remarked that certain species of Longicorns mimicked Lampyrids with great exactness, the light-giving segments of the latter being perfectly represented in the Longicorns, although destitute of phosphorescent power.—Mr. J. W. Slater com- municated a paper on certain minute characters of insects with reference to the theory of evolution.—A communication was received from Mr. P. H. Gosse, on Pagilia homerus, its ovum and larva, and a paper from Mr, Roland Trimen, on some hitherto undetermined butterflies inhabiting Southern Africa, Geological Society, December 17, 1879.—Henry Clifton Sorby, F.R.S., president, in the chair.—James Booth, Edgar S, Cobbold, D. M. Ford Gaskin, John Farran Penrose, Stephen Seal, Thomas Tate, and Richard Taylor were elected Fellows of the Society. —The following communications were read :—A contribution to the physical history of the cretaceous flints, by Surgeon-Major G, C, Wallich, M.D, The author described the origin, the mode of formation, and the cause of the stratification of the chalk flints. Taking as the basis of his conclusions the fact brought to notice by him in 1860, namely, that the whole of the protozoan life at the sea-bed is strictly limited to the im- mediate surface-layer of the muddy deposits, he pointed out in detail the successive stages of the flint-formation, from the period when the chief portion of the silica of which they are composed, was eliminated from the ocean-water by the deep-sea sponges to the period when it became consolidated in layers or sheets conforming to the stratification of the chalk. In relation to this subject the author claimed to have sustained the following con- clusions :—1. That the silica of the flints is derived mainly from the sponge-beds and sponge-fields, which exist in immense pro- fusion over the areas occupied by the globigerine or calcareous ooze.” 2. That the deep-sea sponges, with their environment of protoplasmic matter, constitute by far the most important and essential factors in the production and stratification of the flints. 3. That whereas nearly the whole of the carbonate of lime, derived partly from foraminifera and other organisms that have lived and died at the bottom, and partly from such as have sub- sided to the bottom only after death, goes to build up the cal- Careous stratum, nearly the whole of the silica, whether derived from the deep sea sponges or from surface protozoa, goes to form the flints. 4. That the sponges ‘are the only really im- portant contributors to the flint-formation that live and die at the sea-bed. 5. That the flints are just as much an organic product as the chalk itself. 6. That the stratification of the flint is the immediate result of all sessile protozoan life being confined to the superficial layer of the muddy deposits. 7. That the sub- stance which received the name of ‘‘ Bathybius,” and was de- clared to be an independent living Moneron, is, in reality, sponge-protoplasm. 8. That no valid /ithological distinction exists between the chalk and the calcareous mud of the Atlantic, and fro tanto, therefore, the calcareous mud may be, and in all probabilityéis, ‘‘a continuation of ¢#e chalk-formation,”—Unde- scribed fossil carnivora from the Sivalik Hills, in the collection of the British Museum, by P. N. Bose, This communication contained descriptions of nine species of carnivora from the ossiferous Sivaliks, together with an introduction, in which the age of the Sivalik fauna, and several matters of general interest, were briefly discussed. The species described were : Macherodus sivalensis, M, paleindicus, Felis grandicristata, Hyena sivalensis, Hi, felina, Viverra bakerit, Lutra paleindica, Canis curvi- palatus, and C. cautleyi. Canis curvipalatus is so named on account of the curvation of the palate. C. caufleyi is closely allied to the wolf, as is Viverra bakerit to the civet. The form of the forehead is peculiar in"Zutva paleindica. In the form of the skull, the dimensions of the upper tubercular, &c., Hyena sivalensis approximates to the living Indian hyzena (#7. striata) ; but, in the absence or extremely rudimentary character of the postero-internal cusp in the lower carnassial, as well as in the entire absence of the anterior accessory cusps in the upper and the first two lower premolars, the Sivalik species comes closer to” Hi. crocuta. H. felina differs from all other species of hyzena, living or extinct, in the absence of the upper premolar 1. e/és erandicristata, which was of about the same size as some of the larger varieties of the Royal Tiger, had the ‘sagittal crest even more prominent than the / cristata of Falconer and Cautley. Macherodus sivalensis was of about the same size as the jaguar. One of the specimens, on which this ‘species is based, shows two molars in the deciduous dentition instead of three (as in the genus /%/is). M. faleindicus was considerably larger than J. siva/ensis. Both differ from all other known species of Macherodus in the form of the lower jaw, &c. PARIS Academy of Sciences, December 15, 1879.—M. Daubrée in the chair.—The following papers were read :—On some applications of elliptic functions, by M. Hermite.—Researches on the substance designated hydride of copper, by M, Berthelot. The amorphous substance precipitated in the reaction of hypo- phosphorous acid with sulphate of copper is not a true hydride ; it contains constitutional water, oxygen, and phosphorus in con- siderable quantity—On the cold of December and its influence on the temperature of the snow-covered ground, by MM. Bec- querel. Snow alone does not preserve the bodies it covers from frost. It acts, indeed, as a screen, preventing radiation, and gives water at 0°, which filters through the ground; but under 0° it undergoes, like other bodies, by its conductivity, variations of temperature, and may transmit them, attenuated much, how- ever, by reason of its thickness, But the presence of straw or the like under the snow may preserve organic bodies in the ground.—M, Pasteur stated that the bacteridium of anthrax, and the organism which produces the cholera of fowls, could both resist a temperature of 40° below zero,—On the variations of 220 NATURE Neen eee ee en nnn nn nc ee EIEEEIEIINISSnNEIIEENEEEenreeeee nese the vertical, by M. D’Abbadie. In his observatory near the Pyrenees he has found the place of the vertical vary in only six hours, from 7/4 to 2'4, and he thinks the changes there do not depend on temperature (as M. Plantamour explains the pheno- mena he noted). The desirability of all astronomers publishing their observations on this subject is referred to.—Craniology of Australian races, by MM. Quatrefages and Hamy. The eighth volume of their ‘* Crania Ethnica” completes the study of the Australians, and treats partly of the African negro races. The Australian continent seems to contain only two indigenous races, one forming the Australian race proper, the other distinguished as neanderthaloid, and represented by a small number of homo- geneous and disappearing tribes. The craniological characters are indicated. The male natives of the interior have consider- ably larger cranial capacity than those of the coast, but the women have slightly less.—Observations during a voyage in Equatorial America, by M. Crévaux. The River Iga (one of the affluents of the Amazon) is navigable for S00 geographical miles, as far as the outliers of the Andes.—New zroplane, moved by a compressed air-engine ; expérimental determination of the work necessary to make it fly, by M. Tatin. The apparatus resembled that of Henson’s (1843), except in dimensions, a sort of kite moved by screw propellers. It rises and describes a curve in the air, coming to the groundagain. The horse-power was about 1 per 50 kg.—Reply to M. Balbiani, on the presence of the winter egg of phylloxera in the ground, by M. Boiteau.—A head of jacquez grafted on a French vine, by M. de Lafitte——On a class of functions connected with the functions of M, Heine, by M. Appell.—On measure- ment of the intensity of absorption lines and dark lines of the solar spectrum, by M. Gouy. The problem is reduced to making a pure spectrum, and measuring the intensity of different portions of it.—On a curare of the unstriped muscles, by MM. Couty and De Lacerda. This kills by lowering the arterial tension, and consequent cessation of the circulation. The effects were got with preparations from Strychnos gardnerit and S, triplinervia,— Alterations of the cutaneous nerves in a case of vitiligo, by MM. Leloir and Chabrier.—Researches on vaso-dilator nerves con- tained im various branches of the fifth pair, by MM. Jolyet and Laffont.—On the chemical composition of bones in arthropathy of the ataxic, by M. Regnard. Fat becomes abundant, and phos- phate of lime is greatly diminished.—Researches on the mode of formation of the spinal fissure, by M. Dareste.—On a new form of vesicular worm found in a jerbos, by M. Mégnin.—New remarks on the Orthonectida, by M. Giard.—On the reproduc- tion of marine algze (Bryopsis), by M. Cornu.—On the influence of forests on rain-currents traversing them, and the affinity of pines for vapours, by M. Fautrat. On an average the weight of aqueous vapour contained in 1 cub, metre above pines is 8°66 gr., and on bare ground at the same height 7°39 gr. ; showing 1°27 gr. in favour of the pines. Above leafy trees the corresponding numbers are 8°46 gr. and 8°04 gr. ; difference in favour of leafy trees 0°42 gr,—On a very intense hoar-frost observed at Angers on December 12 and 13, by M. Decharme. The temperature “was — 88 to — 6°'4; pressure 779 mm.; wind weak. The numerous long opaque needles of ice were all placed on one side of the branches, that opposite to the direction of the wind.—M. Jobert proposed a large celestial reflector, giving, in a dark chamber which might hold as many as a hundred observers, an enlarged image of heavenly bodies. December 22, 1879.—M. Daubrée in the chair.—M. Faye pre- sented his ‘* Cours d’Astronomie nautique.” His method is to bring all questions to two or three fundamental equations (which ever recur), The study of chronometers is treated with special care. The graphic solutions of Douwes’s problem are ex- pounded from a new standpoint.—Reply to M. St, Claire Deville’s remarks!on the temperature of decomposition of vapours, by M, Wurtz.—Observations on M. Berthelot’s note entitled ‘* Researches on the Substance named Hydride of Copper,” by M. Wurtz. He adheres to his formula, Cu,H,. The presence of a small quantity of copper and phosphate of copper in the product explains at once the existence of small quantities of oxygen and phosphorus, and the deficit in hydro- gen.—On a new hydride of silicium, by M. Ogier. He sub- mitted some siliciuretted hydrogen to the electric effuve. After some time the gas is wholly destroyed; a yellow coat forms on the walls of the tube, and the gaseous volume (pure hydrogen) increases to a sensibly constant limit, The composition of the deposited matter (arrived at from comparing the volume of the siliciuretted hydrogen and the resulting hydrogen), ap- peared to be Si,H3. The body is thus a sub-hydride of silicium corresponding to sub-oxide of carbon, or to crotonylene. (Its properties are specified.) Similar effects are got with the effuve acting on arseniuretted hydrogen; a solid hydride As,H is formed, corresponding to solid phosphide of hydrogen, P,H.— Comparative studies on ptyaline and diastase, by M. Defresne. These two bodies ‘are not identical physiologically. Ptyaline saccharifies starch in the mixed gastric juice as well as in the mouth ; it is only paralysed an instant in pure gastric juice, and recovers its action in the mixed juice and in the duodenum, Diastase or maltine is destroyed immediately in chlorhydic solu- tions or in pure gastric juice, and after having passed into the mixed juice, it is profoundly altered, for, if again dissolved with starch, it no longer saccharifies it—M. Debrun submitted a new capillary electrometer, a modification of Lippmann’s, a microscope being dispensed with, and the mercury surface whose displacements are observed being in a graduated tube inclined at an angle of 10° to the horizon, The change of level is about 75 mm, for a variation of one yolt (giving, with a Vernier, a sensibility of at least -2; of a volt).—On the determination of the elements of a vibratory movement ; measurement of periods, by M. Mercadier. Two very fine styles are fixed (parallel, and one behind the other, and very near it, in a horizontal plane) to the two vibrating bodies ; and their shadows with light coincide ona vertical screen, When the bodies vibrate vertically, a certain number of lines result in the projection, some of which are broader than others, and seem fixed, (These effects are investi- gated).—Researches on nitrification, by MM. Schleesing “and Muntz. The conditions affecting the production of nitrates are set forth; temperature, access of oxygen, humidity, weak alkalinity, presence of various organic matters, &c, Vetrites are formed in general when the conditions of temperature and aération are not advantageous.—On dioxyethylmethylene, and on the preparation of chloride of methylene, by M. Greene,— On two substances, palmelline and characine, extracted from fresh-water alge, by Mr. Phipson. It is characine that gives plants of the chara genus their marshy odour ; it is formed by the plant during life, and is not a product of decomposition, It is lighter than water, and is a species of camphor, forming very thin pellicles on the water surface, but dissolving very little in it. —Habits and parthenogenesis of Halictus, by M. Fabre. These animals have two generations annually, one in spring, and sexual, from mothers which, fecundated in autumn, haye passed. the winter in their cells; the other in summer, and due to parthenogenesis. —On tubercular inflammation of the internal coat of the vessels in tubercular meningitis, by M. Cornil.—On the structure of the bark and wood of s¢rychnos, by M. Planchon. CONTENTS Pace GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE UNITED STATES. . . . . s « s + 107 SAHARA AND SUDAN. sate (> ley 0: ce vay ye Foehs aly stip an ‘THE SCIENCE OF AGRICULTURE... s © «6 ue 6.0, «s5) Saree Our Book SHELF ?— . . Irby’s ‘‘ Crystallography of Calcite”. . . . 2 2 s ee 200 LETTERS TO THE EpiToR:— The Molecular Velocity of Gases.—R. 1 . « « « « « « « « 20F Weayer Birds and Fire-Flies.—Consul E. L. Lavarp. . . . . 204 The Papau.—Consul:-E. L. LAYARD «6 ow ‘ss a eels 0g Naor Scale of Colours.—L. BLomeEFiE.p (late JeENYNs) . . - . . « zor On the “Habitat” of Lophiomys.—Prof. Henry HILtyer GIGLIOLT,.\ ">. +, ws. ©) ¥), uss Uk isle een On Haloporplyrus lepidion (Risso)—Prof. Henry HILtyer GIGLIOEr se VA 20 ERS I a ee Edison’s New Lamp.—JoserH W. SWAN . . . . « « « y « 202 Flow of Viscous Materials.—R. S. Newatt, F.R.S.. . . . . 202 Hungarian Earthquakes and the Kolumbacs Flies.—Jurius LetHo 2 ee oe PE eke oe oe See ane Unconscious Thought.—Hypr CLARKE. . . . 4. ss « » 202 Stags’ Horns.—Paut Henry StokozE; M.T.M.. ... « . 203 A Query.—IGnoramus ee eee ee Tue AsserTep ArTiFIcIAL PropucTioN OF THE Diamonp. By Prof, Nevit Srory-MaskELynz, P.R.S. . 5 . + . + se « 205 FurTHER Notss upon THE PaPruans oF Mactay Coast, NEw Guinga, I. By J.C. Garton’... 2 4 ~ oi Sh oieieog James R. Narigr, F.R.S, By Joun Mayer. © «defile eeRco Fertivity oF Hysrips FRoM THE ComMMON AND CuinesE Goose. By CHaries DARWIN, F.R.S.;6, (te. is bial py) ara eRn nn te maa y Set pe gee os By Rev. W. Crement Lry (With Lilustra- 20nS, oe ab ser/ bibs.) ahldelhs) (Sti Sethe oe 2 ee < SLs 20° Tue PLANETS OF THE SEASON—Mars. By Rev. T. W. Wenn , . Fos RecorDING SuNsHINE. By DAvip WINSTANLEY, F.RA.S. Ace Norgs..)°s v" 3: SSP ae ee See ee ots hs’ ceca te) nan GROGRAPHICAL NOTES %% 1/42) oh 4 SSS sors e Te) so) 5 6) SN era ON THE Hererostyzism oF ‘‘MELOCHIA Parvirotia.” By Dr. A. ERNST . aw om od 6 ores a) je Offs ren wp ealy’ UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL INTELLIGENCE . . . . «© « «© « 217 ScrenTiric SERIALS » ss ee ee ee ee tw ee ee 278 Socrettms AND ACADEMIES « + + + © © + © © + # « 2 « 218- t, 1, 1880 | THURSDAY, JANUARY 8, 1880 THE TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY QUESTION T “HE correspondence which has appeared during the month of December in the columns of the Zzmes concerning the question of a Metropolitan Technical University, has revived a question upon which we have more than once spoken in these columns, and of which we shall hear more hereafter. It is quite evident that the promoters of the City and Guilds of London Institute for the Advancement of Technical Education meet with pushing into execution their laudable project for applying some of the vast funds they have inherited from the Trade Guilds of the past to the purpose of promoting the elevation of trade by science. It is equally evident that they will not abandon their projects without a very con- siderable effort, especially now that the pressure of public opinion is beginning to bear upon the question and to aid them in their demand. doubts the legal right of the City Companies to the funds 4 which have thus come down to them. Probably also no d one denies or doubts that the law-making power which ! gave them these legal rights can take them away and can force them to hand over, if need be, to the advancement of Technical Education at large, the wealth which they have ceased to apply to the advancement of Technical Education within their own borders. Two years ago a very definite scheme in this direction was launched by the provisional Committee appointed by 4 some of the Guilds. Recognising the moral obligation ; upon them to use their funds for the advancement of their respective industries, some dozen out of the eighty City Companies agreed to devote a certain yearly sum for this purpose. They even went so far as to invite a number of ; distinguished men of science to write reports on the best way of attaining the ends in view, and eventually they embodied their suggestions in a report which was charac- terised by two main propositions: firstly, to establish local technical schools which should be accessible to artisans; secondly, to found a central institution, chiefly for training technical teachers and scholars of excep- é tional promise. This was two years ago; and in the , mean time so little has been done, that some of those who have taken an active part in the earlier stages, begin to be impatient at the little substantial progress made. A note of dissatisfaction of this nature was heard at the beginning of the month of December, and gave rise to the discussion in the Zzmes, to which we have alluded. To understand the merits of the controversy it will be necessary to go back to the beginning. The correspon- dence arose out of some remarks made by Prof. Huxley when presiding at the méeting of the Society of Arts on December 3, at which a paper on apprenticeship was read by Prof. Silvanus Thompson, of Bristol, and to which a paragraph was devoted in NATURE, vol. xxi. p. 139. Prof. Thompson’s paper, which appeared in the Journal of the Society of Arts for December 5, and which has been reprinted in pamphlet form, was devoted to a discussion of the relation between apprenticeship and technical education ; and after laying down the general VoL, xx1.—No. 532 many great and unforeseen difficulties in the way of No one probably denies or, principles of a scientific and rational system of apprentice — training, pointed out that the “lower technical,” or “in-~ dustrial” training which is needed for the forming of good workmen, cannot exist in any effective degree until there is some provision made for the higher technical training analogous to that of the great technical schools of Germany and France, which would qualify a superior class to become on the one hand foremen and masters, and on the other teachers in technical schools. In short, Prof. Thompson’s argument was that there could be no growth of technical schools for the artisan without a central technical university to train teachers for such schools, In the discussion which “ensued Prof. Huxley made some pungent remarks upon the delays which had arisen over the project of the Guilds and Companies of the City of London, who had consulted him some time back con- cerning their proposal to found a Central Institution or Technical College, and who, two years ago had empowered him to make known their good intentions. It was time, he thought, that those good intentions bore fruit. It would be an utter scandal if one shilling were asked for out of the general revenue for this purpose, at least so far as London was concerned, for the Livery Companies were in possession of the enormous funds inherited along with the ancient traditions of the crafts from the old Guilds of London, which were established to aid their respective trades—funds which they were morally, if not legally, bound to apply to the advancement of Technical Educa- tion. Prof. Huxley’s remarks were not, however, suffered to pass unchallenged. Inthe Zzmes of December 9 Mr. J. H. Crossman condemned Prof. Huxley and those who act with him as somewhat impatient and hasty in their pre- posals. . To this letter Prof. Huxley replied a few days later in a most admirably conceived and no less successfully worded letter, What had been proposed was simply the estab- lishment of local technical schools accessible to the artisans, and a Central Institution chiefly for the training of teachers and of scholars of exceptional capacity ; and he added the very pertinent query; “ Do the Livery Com- panies of London intend to carry out any general scheme of Technical Education such as that adopted by their own Committee, or do they not ?” Mr. Owen Roberts, one of the Honorary Secretaries of the City and Guilds Institute, replied to the point raised by Prof. Huxley’s letter, asking whether he was aware of the negotiations which had been going on between the City and Guilds Institute, and the Lords Commissioners of the Exhibition of 1851, fora piece of land on the South Kensington estate as a sitefor a central institution, and stating that the only reason why these negotiations had not been definitely concluded, was that lately the Commissioners had put forward certain require- ments, as a condition of their grant of a site, which the Livery Companies have not considered to be consistent with their independence of action. Hence the regretted delays, which had not, however, debarred the Institute from proceeding with one very important section of its work, namely, the promotion of local schools for artisans. Following hard on Mr. Roberts’s letter, there appeared in the Zimes of December 27 a communicated article L - 222 -. wt SANT / NATURE giving a careful and detailed history of the various schemes considered by the City and Guilds Institute, which may be broadly stated as being three in number. The first of these schemes, proposing to build a central institution upon a site on the Corporation lands on the Thames Embankment, has been dismissed as essen- tially too costly. The second, the proposal to obtain a site from the Commissioners of the South Kensington Estate, is in abeyance since the ancient free “spirit” of the Companies leads them to regard as distasteful either that the Commissioners should be directly represented on the managing body of the Central Institution, or that, as an alternative, the chief scientific bodies of the nation should have the right of being represented onit. The third scheme, which apparently does not stand a much better chance of success than its predecessors, though having many points in its favour, was a proposal to buy the palatial mansion built by Baron Grant at Kensington, with its seven acres of ground, and convert it into a building for a Central Institution by slight but suitable alterations in its interior arrangements, thus obtaining capital laboratories and lecture theatres. But the un- reasoning outcry raised against the site simply because it was in the west, and not in some equally inaccessible situation in the north or in the east, has been so loud in its tones that we believe the project has virtually been abandoned. At least so the semi-official article in the Times would lead us to imagine. Prof. Huxley has, however, had a last word on the matter. He cannot quite agree in the view that the guarantees asked by the Lords Commissioners are so unreasonable as the Livery Companies think them. In his second letter of the 29th ult. he says that if he is rightly informed, they amount to being guarantees firstly of sufficiency and permanency of endowment, and secondly of proper government; the desire of the Commissioners in reserving the right of nominating two or three members of the governing body being merely that they may insure the presence amongst the representatives of the city magnates that small number of ‘educational experts.” To which Mr. Roberts quietly rejoined that educational experts differed con- siderably in the advice they tendered, and that the prin- cipal point of objection lay in the proposal that the two or three persons nominated by an exterior authority should be the only permanent members of a governing body the majority of whom were continually going off by rotation. It is not our place to pronounce judgment upon the conflicting views which have been maintained concerning the conditions imposed by the Commissioners in their offer of a site. If Prof. Huxley’s information is correct, it is hard to see how or why the independence of the Guilds, or of the Institute they have founded, should be impaired by the presence on the governing body of such men as, say, Mr. Lyon Playfair, or Mr. Mundella, or perhaps even Prof. Huxley himself. If, on the other hand, the Livery Companies have some further knowledge or insight than Prof. Huxley has, it would certainly be well if they would explain what it is that is incompatible with their ancient liberties, and would suggest some alternative course, which, while reserving them all reasonable liberty of action, should attain the ends for which guarantees are desired. = The most painful aspect of the whole controversy is one which does not come to the surtace in this corre- spondence, but which is nevertheless a very real one. There is a large section of the outside public who take a deep and increasing interest in the question of technical education, and who have watched the present scheme from its first inception with something more than curiosity. They cannot understand that any body of men really intending to carry out a project such as that which was made public two years ago could permit such endless delays, such interminable cross-purposes, such haggling over different schemes, as have been lately witnessed. They begin to fear that all these things are done with a purpose, and that the delays are interested, and the rival schemes manufactured to serve some less noble end. Whether such persons are right or wrong, all these whispers would be at once silenced by a few unmistakable signs of real progress, such as we have looked for in vain. The public knows well enough that the organisation of the City Guilds as they are is a blot upon an intelligent community; that they have ceased in all but name to represent the trades for the sake of which and out of which they arose. It knows full well that their unfathomed funds are not applied to the purpose of elevating and improving their respective crafts, whatever else they may be applied to. And it is quite prepared to say with emphasis when the moment arrives that if reform does not come from within it must come from without. The first step, if such measures must come, will doubtless be the appointment of a Royal Commission of Inquiry. What the second might be he must be bold who would predict. The announcements made two years ago were hailed as a note of progress, indicating the probability that wiser counsels would prevail, and that the needed reform was to be brought about quietly and harmoniously from within. But the project for founding a Central Technical College is as far from realisation as ever, and the hopes raised have been sorely disappointed. Men of scientific habits and of business aptitudes are alike getting tired of the endless delays and fruitless negotiations that have taken place. And there are, we suspect, many who, on learning how one scheme after another has fallen through for want of unanimity of purpose to carry it out, will be quite ready to think that it was not without good cause that Prof. Huxley asked: Do the Livery Companies of London intend to carry out any general scheme of Technical Education such as that adopted by their own Committee, or do they not? OSTEOLOGY OF MAN Catalogue of the Specimens Illustrating the Osteology and Dentition of Vertebrated Animals, Recent and Extinct, contained in the Museum of the Royal College of Surgeons of England, By William Henry Flower, Conservator of the Museum. Part I. Maz. (London: David Bogue, 1879.) le is now twenty-five years ago since Prof. Owen, the then Conservator of the Museum of the Royal College of Surgeons, completed the last volume of the catalogue of the osteological collection. Since that time the additions to the Museum have been so numerous and [Yan. 8, 1880 ian valuable that the original catalogue has ceased to fulfil _ the requirements of the collection, and the preparation of a new catalogue has become necessary. Prof. Flower, the present Conservator, has undertaken this task, and the first fruit of his labours is now before us. In this volume he has catalogued the specimens, 1,312 in number, which illustrate the development of the human skeleton, the osteology of adult man, the dentition of man, and the crania and other parts of the skeleton illustrating the osteological characters of the various races of men. This volume is, therefore, from the extent and variety of the collection, and from the methodical way in which the numerous measurements are recorded, an important contribution to physical anthropology. In the introductory chapter Prof. Flower describes the method he has pursued in obtaining the measurements of the crania, and he explains the meaning of a number of terms, mostly introduced by Paul Broca, into craniology. The measurements which he records are taken with especial reference to the determination of the circum- ference of the cranium, its length, breadth, and height and the relations of these to each other ; the length from the anterior margin of the foramen magnum, on the one hand to the fronto-nasal suture, and on the other to the most projecting part of the upper alveolar arch, from which the alveolar index is deduced; the height and width of the nose; the height and width of the orbit; and the cubic capacity of the cranium. The capacity is ex- pressed in cubic centimetres and the other measurements in millimetres. In measuring the length of a skull craniologists are in the habit of taking the longitudinal diameter between the prominence at the root of the nose called the glabella, and the most projecting part of the occiput behind, a measurement which has the advantage of giving the absolute length of the cranium between its two most extreme points. Prof. Flower, however, does not follow this method, but prefers to take the length from the most projecting part of the occiput behind, to a point situated immediately above the projection of the glabella, to which Broca has given the name ophryon. This point is in the centre of a line drawn across the narrowest part of the forehead, which separates the face from the cranium. He has selected this point anteriorly, in preference to the glabella, on the ground that the glabella is properly a part of the face, and that it may vary much in develop- ment, without occasioning any alteration in the essential form of the cranium. Similarly in taking the horizontal circumference of the cranium he passes the tape line, not over the prominence of the glabella, as is customary with craniologists, but above it, around the supra-orbital line. Mr. Flower therefore entirely excludes this well-known prominence from his measurement of the cranium, But in excluding the glabella from the cranium, on the ground that it belongs to the face, he does not appear in his measurements of the face, to have made provision for including the glabella, so that in these measurements a feature which gives a very decided character to the anterior region of the head is left out of consideration. This seems to us to be a defect, for if such a mode of ‘mensuration were generally adopted, skulls possessing great projections in the glabellar and supraciliary regions, Such as the well-known Neanderthal skull and the crania 223 of the generality of the Australian aborigines would not have, what undoubtedly constitutes one of their most salient and characteristic features, represented in a table of their dimensions, and the relations of their extreme length and breadth to each other, as expressed by the latitudinal cephalic index, would not be fully brought out. It may, however, be argued that, by including the glabella in the longitudinal diameter and in the horizontal circumference, a portion of the cranial wall which lies superficial and owes its extent of projection to a subjacent air-containing space—the frontal sinus—and not to the brain cavity, is made to appear as if it were an essential part of the box containing the brain, and that the size of the cavity of that box is made to seem therefore to be greater than it really is. But to this it may be replied that the capacity of the cranial box, as capable of being deduced from external measurements, is affected, even when the glabella and supraciliary ridges are left out of consideration, by other causes, such as variations in the thickness of the diplée and the development of ridges for muscular attachment. The only reliable mode of ascertaining the capacity of the cranium is by actual measurement of what it can contain, and not by calculations based on the external dimensions of its walls. The longitudinal diameter of the cranium ought in our judgment to express the actual length of the skull between its two extreme anterior and posterior points, to whatever cause it may be due. The special mode of taking the length of the cranium, adopted in this Catalogue, is to be kept in mind in com- paring, not only the length of the crania but their lati- tudinal and altitudinal indices, with the corresponding measurements recorded by those craniologists who take the length of the skull between its two most extreme points. The several measurements have been made and re- corded with that care and precision which characterises all the anatomical work done by Prof. Flower. To obtain reliable evidence of the cubic capacity, one of the most difficult and important measurements to procure, many thousands of experiments have been made to ascertain the best process, and some of the crania have been gauged several times over. The material used has been mustard seed, with which the brain cavity has been filled to its maximum and the quantity of the seed has then been taken with the choremometer designed and constructed by Mr. Busk. In addition to the measurements recorded of the indi- vidual crania, the author has given a valuable table in- which he summarises the general results that have been obtained from the examination of the skulls of the dif- ferent races. This table shows clearly that after making allowance for variations in individual skulls, yet that the different races of mankind possess in ‘the configuration and dimensions of their skulls certain tangible characters which may be expressed by distinctive terms. Thus, to select a few examples adduced by the author, from the races which are probably unmixed. The Veddah race of Ceylon is dolichocephalic, orthognathous, with the orbital and nasal apertures moderately wide in proportion to the height (mesoseme and mesorhine), and with the capacity of the cranium small (microcephalic), The Australian race, again, whilst dolichocephalic, and microcepkalic as 224 regards the dimensions of the cranium, is prognathous, platyrhine, and microseme in the measurements of the face. The now extinct Tasmanian race was, like the Australian, prognathous, platyrhine, microseme, micro- cephalic, but in the relations of the length to the breadth of the cranium not dolichocephalic but mesaticephalic, Ze., between dolichocephalic and brachycephalic. The Bushmen, whilst mesaticephalic, platyrhine, microseme, microcephalic, are, as regards the upper jaw, not progna- thous, but orthognathous. ‘The Bush crania differ in an important manner from their near geographical neigh- bours the Kaffirs and Zulus, which, though platyrhine in their nasal relations, are dolichocephalic and megacephalic in their cranial dimensions, mesognathous as regards the projection of the upper jaw and mesoseme in their orbital dimensions. The skulls of the African Negroes are doli- chocephalic, mesocephalic, prognathous, platyrhine, and mesoseme; whilst the Andamanese, of which the Museum possesses a remarkably good series, are brachycephalic, microcephalic, mesognathous, mesorhine, and megaseme. As regards the Australian and the dark races with frizzly hair dolichocephalism and prognathism, with small or moderate cranial capacities prevail, except in the Bush- men and the Andamanese. The prevailing characteristics of the races inhabiting Europe, North Africa, and South- West Asia are a moderate latitudinal index, a moderate orbital index, a low alveolar index, a low nasal index, and a high cerebral capacity. In the Mongoloid races again the orbital index is usually high, the cranial capacity variable, whilst in its dimensions the skull ranges from brachycephalism: in the Siberians and Peruvians to ex- treme dolichocephalism in the Eskimo. The jaw may be either orthognathous or prognathous. The study of this Catalogue is essential to all who are interested in physical anthropology, but more especially to those who may be engaged in working with the cranio- logical collection in the Museum of the Royal College of Surgeons of England. bunt OUR BOOK SHELF — The Village Life. (Glasgow : Maclehose, 1879.) THIS is a volume of poems intended to picture various phases of Scottish village life. “ It is beyond our province to criticise the quality of the poetry, but it deserves some notice at our hands for the prominence given throughout to the most recent scientific doctrines, especially that of evolution. With the latest teachings of science in this ‘direction the author appears to be thoroughly acquainted, as is evidenced especially in the two poems on “ The Schoolmaster’’ and ‘‘ The Doctor.’’ It seems to us a noteworthy fact in the progress of science that its latest developments should form so prominent a feature in a work so purely literary, as a series of poems.. The author himself, while he has evidently a tenderness for the old beliefs and bygone customs, still, cannot help showing how strong is his leaning to the revelations of the science of to-day. We venture to think that the anonymous author’s presentation of the latest results of scientific investigation ought to reassure those who dread that science and poetry cannot co-exist, that the spread of science and the increase of scientific knowledge will leave no room for the exercise of the poet’s fancy. If ignorance is a necessary condition for the exercise of this function, it is quite safe to predict that there is no chance of the poet’s occupation ever being gone. Let us suggest to the author of the “Village Life,” as a NATURE rs [Fan. 8, 1880 subject to try the mettle of his fancy and the extent of his knowledge, the “Lake Dwellers.’”” We think the present volume is likely to afford a quiet pleasure to many readers, and as a specimen of the versification and to show how clearly and musically the author can put a puzzling problem, we give the following quotation from the poem on ‘f The Doctor” ;— : «* Search as we may, no trace is found Of how the man-ape was transformed Into the man with speech and creed ; We know not how he shed his hair, Or shortened his fore limbs and rose On back-bone straight, with head thrown back, With archéd foot, and supple knee ; Or by what process came the hue Of his now soft and hairless skin, Its brown, its red, its jetty black, Its yellow, and the tints between ; Or how the straight and flattened nose, Developed from the monkey’s face, The jaw prognathous, square or thin ; And above all how speech began— How first the inarticulate, : Long-armed, broad-chested, roaring clan Of men-apes, out of shouts and cries, Formed syllables and meaning words ; How, from the jarring harsh discords Of brutal sounds there broke instead, Liquid utterances, replies, Sweet conversation, grave debate ?— ‘ A vast development, so great And splendid that the tail-less ape At once became the planet’s lord, A god in reason, as in shape. The Doctor hoped that searchers keen Might find before the glacial age . Some traces of an earlier stage— Man Pliocene or Miocene— A skull, or skeleton that showed, The type improving from the ape ; Some form revealing how a broad Divergence intellectual, May come from trifling change of shape; That showed complete, a reason why The glorious art of speech arose ; How shortened arm, and thickened thigh, Deepened the chest, enlarged the lung; The larynx and the mouth and nose Transforming with the breast and brain, Became sonorous, and the tongue Shaped simple words, they grew amain To language musical, and song. : But though the search is deep and long, And evolutionists await With eager hope, the early ‘ brave’ Emerging from the brutal state ; He comes not from his ancient grave ; His grave is lost ; his fossil bones No geologic era owns.”’ LETTERS TO THE EDITOR [Zhe Editor does not hold himself responsible for opinions expressed by his correspondents. Neither can he undertake to return, or to correspond with the writers of, rejected manuscripts. No notice is taken of anonymous communications. [ The Editor urgently requests correspondents to keep their letters as short as possible. The pressure on his space is so great that it is impossible otherwise to ensure the appearance even of com- munications containing interesting and novel facts.] Artificial Diamonds 5 Tue fate of the Glasgow diamonds, as recorded in NATURE, vol. xxi. p. 203, reminds me of an adventure of my own that happened about ten years ago, and is likely to be repeated by ‘ a AA 3, 1880] For showing the popular class-room experiment of burning phosphorus in oxygen, I was in the habit of using a little cup of chalk made deeper and with smaller rim than the ‘brass cups usually made for the purpose. The object of this ‘was to limit the too rapid outburst of combustion. I noticed that a cup which had been used several times was coated on the inside with a hard, glassy enamel, which I supposed to be phosphate of lime. To test this, the cup was thrown into some hydrochloric acid and dissolved bodily, but I found at the bottom of the beaker an insoluble residue of crystalline particles. What were these? Could it be possible that the carbonic acid driven off by heating the chalk had, on reaching the heated phosphorus, become dissociated, its oxygen combining with the phosphorus, and its carbon thrown down as veritable diamond ? To test this startling theory, I collected the particles and rabbed them between a glass pestle and mortar. They appeared hard enough to scratch the glass, but were too small for further ex- amination. To obtain a better supply, I dissolved some phos- phorus in bisulphide of carbon, pounded some chalk and made it into a paste with the solution, then filled a porcelain crucible with this and fired the mass by heating it over a Bunsen burner. It blazed magnificently, throwing out eruptive jets of flame. Here, in the absence of surrounding oxygen, the car- bonic acid had every opportunity of becoming dissociated or reduced by the heated phosphorus. The residue was treated with hydrochloric acid, and this time I found at the bottom of the beaker quite a respectable quantity of crystalline grains, These left unmistakable scratches on the glass pestle and mortar, and seemed to make some fine scratches on an agate pestle and mortar. I next examined them under a microscope, and found that they were more like pebbles than crystals, so much so as to suggest another theory of their composition and origin, viz., that they were miniature chalk flints formed by the fusion and aggre- gation of the siliceous cuticles of fossil diatoms, or such-like organisms of which chalk appears to be in some degree made up. To test this, I precipitated some pure carbonate of lime, soaked it with the solution of phosphorus and fired as before, then treated with hydrochloric acid ; when, alas! my Z/dorado of dissociated carbonic dioxide melted into thin air as the effer- vescent liquid gradually cleared itself and showed no traces of crystalline residue. W. MattTiev WILLIAMS Stonebridge Park, Willesden Solar Phenomenon On the afternoon of the 18th ult., in company with Herr Lohse, of this observatory, I was occupied in adjusting a spec- troscope attached to the 15-inch refractor. The sun was dis- appearing behind the ridge of the hill of Fare, about five miles distant, To utilise the last rays of the sun, I was directing the telescope on the gradually lessening segment of the sun’s disk, while Herr Lohse was looking through the spectroscope. Under these circumstances it will be understood that we were both standing near the inner vertical surface of the drum-shaped dome, close to where it was lit up by the sunlight coming through the opposite vertical opening, which is 40 inches wide, It may be well to add that the dome is made of corrugated iron, painted slate-colour, the corrugations of the wall being vertical, Under the impression that the sun had wholly disappeared, I looked‘at the inner wall of the dome to see if it was actually shaded by the distant hill. To my great surprise, the still illuminated surface was crossed by a number of distinct, horizontal, black lines, which ascended at a uniform pace about a foot andahalfinasecond. The lines were, on an average, about } inch thick, while the intervals may have been mostly some 24 inches, but I do not think that the intervals were uniform. Herr Lohse, on turning from the spec- troscope, also saw the lines ; but while he feels sure that some of them terminated in points, I am under the impression that all the lines crossed the entire illuminated space. The lines had a distinct quivering motion, which, combined with their uniform ascent, gave the whole phenomenon a most beautiful appearance. We both independently estimated the number of lines seen at about thirty, and the duration of the phenomenon at half a minute from the time when we first saw it, It was, however, certainly fully developed when first caught sight of, ‘These lines seem to be closely allied to those repeatedly seen at the beginning or end of the total phase of a solar eclipse, See particularly es sch ae i 8 ‘ of the local conditions which, if added to crowding, filth, or other insanitary conditions and want of proper ventila- tion, is that of all others which favours cholera. Such are the principal theories of the disease as they are sup- ported by fact and argument which appear convincing. Europeans, Americans, and some authorities in India maintain the contagious view, whilst high authorities in India adhere to the opposite theory, and declare roundly that the facts of cholera, in India at least, are altogether opposed to the contagion theory. On the question of importation of cholera in the Punjab epidemic (1875-6) and its spread by human agency, Dr. Bryden, in his report, p. 308 (1876, published 1878), says : —“The assertion amounts to this. The Punjab is divided into thirty-two districts. Cholera was introduced into seventeen of these in 1875, and therefore it spread. Cholera was of introduced into fifteen districts, and there- fore did not appear, or, if it was introduced, influences of which we know nothing stopped its propagation in these districts. Unknown causes prevailing in the one-half of the area are presumed to influence the human system so that it is capable of receiving cholera, and in the other to act universally as an antidote even to a cholera poison when introduced. This is what is oftered as antagonistic to the theory which asserts that cholera is air-borne and is as far-flying as are the limits of natural areas, Pri- marily, these theories cannot be reconciled ; the one or the other is false. If cholera is spread only by the human being, the theory which shows it to be air-conveyed is untrue ; if cholera is spread solelyas an aérial miasm, then the theory which recognises only the effects of human intercourse is unfounded. The most that is admitted by the advocates of the human theory is, that the subjec- tion of cholera to meteorological agencies is absolute,and that these influences can, and do operate so as to doaway altogether with the effects of the poison, although imported. They do not recognise the entity szs the human being. The antagonistic theory, while holding, as opposed to demonstrable fact, the statement that cholera moves only by human agency, may, if necessary, be extended in its scope so as to embrace the other; that is to say, the inquiry is left open as to whether or not the cholera entity, after being aérially distributed, may be subsequently pro- pagated or spread by man. In the theory which connects. cholera solely with man there is no such extensibility. Human intercourse must explain every fact of spread and propagation, and nothing is left to the play of natural agencies. Human intercourse, giving the widest scope to the signification of the term, cannot pretend to account for any fundamental phenomenon displayed during the progress of epidemic cholera; and, therefore, I assert the theory to be radically untrue as applied to the behaviour of cholera in India. I do not say that the above state- ment will hold true all over the world ; and, even as ap- plied to India, the theory does not preclude the possibi- lity that cholera may be conveyed by the human being. Naturally the recoil is to the opposite extreme. The bold statement that cholera is never spread over an area unless human agency intervenes, is apt to be met by the equally dogmatic statement that cholera is as pure a miasm as malaria, and as little amenable to the control of man. In the present state of our knowledge we can only be guided by the inferences from well-ascertained facts and such laws as we have ascertained to be in constant operation, watching and carefully observing until we may, were it only by a process of exclusion, arrive at some deeper knowledge still. “So far,” says the chief sanitary authority in India, “‘the history of cholera is full of enigmas and seeming contradictions, and though we have of late years collected many valuable data, and understood the importance of studying them ona broad basis, we know no more of the exact cause of the disease than our grandfathers did. We know that, what- ever the cause may be, it flourishes in the midst of insanitary conditions of dirt and overcrowding, - and especially of impure water, impure from whatever cause ; we know that it is liable to occur eae certain conditions, and at certain times and seasons, and we should endeavour to extend that knowledge, and hope, as we doso, to arrive at the precise nature of the disease itself.” But it may be well to remember that “‘expenditure of public money must take place only on observed facts and experience,” not in accordance with theories. “It would be prejudicial to real sanitary work if opinions which have been promul- gated in some parts of India, as to the cause of cholera being due so/ely to the state of the water-supply, were to take root.” It is most important that we should arrive at some definite conclusion as to the real nature of the disease, for it is impossible but that our conceptions on this subject must influence the sanitary measures that deal with it, and I believe the question must find its final solution in India, where the disease is always present in its endemic and seldom absent from the epidemic areas. The highest authorities—for both I have the greatest respect—differ toto celo.on this subject. Is it that they are both right, though seemingly so opposed in their views? Like the knights who fought about the silver and golden sides of the shield, will they not change places, and find why they differed ? I would venture to suggest that in India the inquiry might be pushed with more detail in regard to individual cases and outbreaks in certain limited areas ; and that, on the other hand, one or more epidemiologists of European fame should be deputed to visit India and study cholera with the eminent men who have devoted so many years. of close attention to it there, It might be, I believe it would be, that mutually they would gain from each other, and that those who went out would tind their own views confirmed as to the disease in Europe—modified as to what they deemed it to be in India. Of one thing I am convinced, that simple truth is the object of their search ; and I feel sure that from such combinedaction the greatest benefit would result, POPULAR NATURAL. HISTORY ? UDGING by the continuous stream of popular “Natural Histories,” the demand for such books must be great. Messrs. Cassell have already published many volumes of the kind, some dealing with the whole animal kingdom, some with a single class; they are now bringing out a series of volumes under the editorship of Dr. Martin Duncan, and in the mean time they present us with a single volume of a still more popular character by Dr. Perceval Wright. This book, as we are told in the preface, is intended for that large class of readers who, while they take an intelligent interest in the study of natural history, have but little taste for the technical details which would naturally form the bulk of a scientific manual on the subject. For this reason the space devoted to the several orders is roughly proportioned to the amount of interest generally felt inthem. The mammalia occupy more than a third of the volume, the remaining orders of the vertebrata about an equal space, while the whole of the invertebrates are compressed into the space that remains—about one-fourth of that occupied by the vertebrates. The author tells us that his aim has been “to compile a story-book about animals, and at the same time in some degree to write a scientific manual.” This is undoubtedly a difficult thing to do, and to do it thoroughly and in the best style would be a fitting life- work for a great naturalist. It would have to be done as a labour of love, not to the order of a publisher ; and the 7 Ani ife; bei Series o riptions of the Various Sub-kingdoms of Reet ese E Wright, M.A., M.D., ree Pro- fessor of Botany in the University of Dublin. With Illustrations. (Cassell, Petter, Galpin, and Co., Lendon, Paris, end New York.) —— [ Fan. 8, 1880 Sr illustrations should be of the very best kind, so as fully to exhibit the beauty, the variety, and the intricacy of nature. The present volume lays no claim to such complete- ness ; yet it is far superior to the mere popular natural history, inasmuch as it gives a considerable amount of accurate information both on the anatomy and physiology of the chief types of the animal kingdom, and on the geographical distribution of the chief families and genera of the higher animals. It also deserves great credit for the completeness of its review of the vertebrata, every well-established family group being referred to, and its _ more prominent characteristics usually described ; so that, so far as this sub-kingdom is concerned, the book is a compendium of information well worthy of a place in the harvest-mouse nest building accompanies the following descriptive passage :— “The Harvest Mouse (Js minutus) is found probably all over Europe. It is not common in England, and is more frequent in Belgium. White, of Selborne, in writing to Pennant, says: ‘They build their nests amidst the straws of the corn above the ground, and sometimes in thistles. They breed as many as eight at a litter, ina little round nest composed of the blades of grass or wheat. One of these I procured this autumn, most arti- ficially platted, and composed of the blades of grass or wheat, perfectly round, and about the size of a cricket- ball, with the aperture so ingeniously closed that there was no discovering to what part it belonged. It was so compact and well-filled that it would roll across the table NATURE ie Fic. t. Harvest Mouse and Nest. library of every natural history student. With the invertebrata a very different plan has had to be followed, only the more important orders being noticed, and a few typical forms selected for description and illustration ; yet even here we are glad to meet with some account of the most recent discoveries among marine animals, and some illustrations which offer a welcome relief from the usual stereotyped forms of most popular works. We shall best exhibit the character of Dr. Wright’s volume by laying before our readers a few passages with their accompanying illustrations. Under the mouse family (Muridz) we have twenty species described or noticed, and these are illustrated by eight excellent figures. The beautiful illustration of the ’ without being discomposed, though it contained feight little mice that were naked and blind. As this nest was perfectly full, how could the dam come at her litter so as to administer respectively a teat to each? Perhaps she opens different places for that purpose, adjusting them again when the business is over, but she could not possibly be contained herself in the ball with her young, which, moreover, would be daily increasing in bulk. This won- derful procreant cradle—an elegant instance of the efforts of instinct—was found in a wheat-field suspended in the head of a thistle.’ The food of this little mouse consists of corn and grass seeds, insects, and earth-worms. Of insects it is very fond.” z Of the ravages of another British species we have the following interesting account :— 234 NATURE [ Fan. 8, 1880 “The Short-tailed Field Mouse (Arwicola arvalis) is found throughout Europe to Siberia. Small and insigni- ficant as this animal appears to be, there is scarcely a species among the rodents more destructive to our fields, gardens, and woods. In the corn-field, the rick-yard, the granary, and in extensive plantations, its depredations are often severe, and even calamitous. Of the damage effected by a multitude of these animals we give a single instance. In the year 1814 the whole, both of Dean and New Forest, appeared to be largely stocked with mice ; at least wherever the large furze-brakes in the open parts had been burnt their holes and runs covered the surface. Hayward Hill, a new plantation of about 500 acres in the Forest of Dean, was particularly infested. This inclosure, after being properly fenced, was planted with acorns in 181o, and in the following spring about one-third came up, the rest of the seed having been destroyed principally by mice. The young shoots of the natural hollies of the district, which had been cut down to favour the plantation, were not attacked by the mice in the following winter, though their runs were numerous. In the autumn of the succeeding year a large quantity of five years old oaks and chestnuts, with ash, larch, and fir, were planted in the inclosure. In the winter the destruction began, and numbers of the hollies, then two, three, or more feet in height, were barked round from the ground to four or five inches upwards, and died. In the succeeding spring a number of the oaks and chestnuts were found dead ; and when they were pulled up it appeared that the roots had been gnawed through two or three inches below the sur- face of the ground ; many were also barked round and killed, like the holly-shoots, whilst others, which had been begun upon, were sickly. The evil now extended to the other inclosures, and becoming very serious both in Dean Forest and the New Forest, cats were turned out, the bushes, ferns, rough grass, and other plants were cleared off to expose the mice to beasts and birds of prey; poisons in great variety were laid, and seven or eight different sorts of traps were set for them, some of which succeeded very well. These were, however, superseded by the plan of a ratcatcher, who, having been employed to capture the mice, had observed, on going to work in the morning, that some of them had fallen into wells or pits accidentally formed, and could not get out again, many of them dying from hunger or fatigue in endeavour- ing to climb up the sides. Such pits were therefore tried on his recommendation. They were at first made three feet deep, three long, and two wide ; but these were found to be unnecessarily large, and after various experiments it appeared that they answered best when from eighteen to twenty inches deep, about two feet in length, and a foot and a half in width at the bottom, and only eighteen inches long and nine wide at the top, or so wide as would allow of the earth being got out of ahole of that depth, for the wider they were below and the narrower above the better they answered their purpose.t They were made about twenty yards asunder, or, where the mice were less numerous, thirty yards apart. Nearly 30,000 mice were speedily caught by this method in Dean Forest, and in the New Forest about 10,000 more. It was believed that a far greater number had been taken out of the holes either alive or dead by stoats and weasels, or by kites, owls, crows, jays, and magpies.” The following account of the Angler (Lophius pisca- zorius), a curious large-headed fish belonging to the family of the Lophiide, or fishing-frogs, and a native of our seas, is short, but clear and instructive :—“ This curious fish has the head wide, and the mouth nearly as wide as the head; the eyes are large; the lower jaw, which is the longer, is bearded or fringed all round the edge, and both jaws are armed with numerous teeth ; the body is narrow compared with the breadth of the *This is the form adopted for the tiger-pits made by}the Chinese in Singapore. head, and tapers gradually to the tail. The colour of the upper surface of the body is uniform brown, the under surface white, and the tail,almost black. On the top of the head are three long filaments; of these, two are seated just above the muzzle, the other rises from the back of the head. These filaments are movable in all directions, especially the first, which, tapering like the finest fishing-rod, ends in broad, flattened, silvery tips. “The angler is insatiably voracious, but it is a slow swimmer; it is formed, in fact, for taking its prey in ambush. It reposes on the soft mud or sand, in some favourable lurking-place, and, stirring up the mud with Fic. 2.—Angler (Lofhius piscatorius). its pectoral fins, thus obscures itself in a murky cloud, beyond which appear its long filaments, and, especially the first, with its glittering tip, offering an attractive bait to other fish. Thus stationed, the creature quietly ex- pects its victim. On rove the shoals of fish, eager in quest of food. They pass one after another in succes- sion, till at length one espies the bait. Forward the fish darts, either to examine or seize the expected prize; but at that instant, aided by its broad, feet-like pectoral fins, the watchful angler springs up and captures its prey.” The fishes are generally very well illustrated, and a large number of interesting species are described. Passing on to the invertebrates, we come first to the insects, which form the weakest part of the volume; but this is perhaps of less importance as none but specialists feel any interest in the bulk of the forms; while their im- mense numbers and endless variety, their strange habits, and marvellous instincts can only be adequately set forth where ample space can be afforded them. We pass on therefore to the lower marine animals, and select as an example of the way they are treated a rare British species allied to the sea cucumbers, and named Syxapta duvernea. It was discovered in the English Channel by M. Quatre- fages, who thus describes it :— “Imagine a cylinder of rose-coloured crystal as much a3 eighteen inches long and more than an inch in diameter, traversed in all its length by five narrow ribbands of white silk, and its head surmounted by a living flower whose twelve tentacles of purest white fall behind in a graceful curve. In the centre of these tissues, which rival in their delicacy the most refined products of the loom, imagine an intestine of the thinnest gauze, gorged from one end to the other with coarse grains of granite, the rugged points and sharp edges of which are perfectly perceptible — —- , -_— ae — — a i i i i, i i il aa Bi Fan. 8, 1880] to the naked eye. But what most struck me at first in nourishment than the coarse sand by which it was surrounded. And then when,. armed with scalpel and microscope, I ascertained something of its organisation, what unheard-of marvels were revealed! In this body, the walls of which scarcely reach the sixteenth part of an inch in thickness, I could distinguish seven distinct layers of tissue, with a skin, muscles, and membranes. the petaloid tentacles I could trace terminal suckers, NATURE - this animal was that it seemed literally to have no other | highly-polished vase. ad 235 which enabled the Synapta to crawl up the side of a In short this creature, denuded to all appearance of every means of attack or defence, showed itself to be protected by a species of mosaic, formed of small, calcareous, shield-like defences, bristling with double hooks, the points of which, dentated like the arrows of the Carribeans, had taken hold of my hands. If one of these Synapta is preserved alive in sea-water for Upon | a short time, and subjected to a forced fast, a very strange phenomenon will be observed. The animal, being unable Fic. 3.—Synapta duvernea. to feed itself, successively detaches various parts of its own body, which it amputates spontaneously.” Although most of the illustrations in this volume are very good, and some are good works of art, there are also several which are very poor, and quite unworthy of the text. This is especially the case among the smaller birds, several of which are unrecognisable. A few also have been wrongly named, representing very different creatures from those they are said to be. The most prominent defects of this kind are the figure of the Leu- coryx antelope, which is named Saiga /artarica, and ON THE SECULAR CHANGES IN THE ELE- MENTS OF THE ORBIT OF A SATELLITE | REVOLVING ABOUT A PLANET DISTORTED | BY TIDES* "THE investigation which forms the subject of this paper is entirely mathematical, and is therefore not of a kind to be easily condensed into a short account. This paper is the fifth of a series (of which notices have from time to time appeared in NATURE) in which * An account of a paper by G. H. Darwin, F.R.S., read before the Royal Society, on December 18. | that of two humming-birds, which do duty for sun-birds, These oversights, which no doubt occurred in the London office, since they are far too gross to be imputed to the author of the book, should be corrected in another edition ; and if the publishers will substitute better figures for those of the stone-chat, hedge-sparrow, dipper, Java- sparrows and some others which are barely recognisable, the work will be one of permanent use and interest, both as an illustrated manual of the families of the vertebrata and a popular introduction to general natural history. A. R. W. I have endeavoured to trace the various effects on the con- figuration of a planet and satellite, which must result from tidal friction—the tides in the planet being either a bodily distortion or oceanic. The investigations are, I think, not without interest as a branch of pure dynamics, but this side of the subject is too complicated to be made intelli- gible without mathematical notation, and it would occupy too much space to explain the methods of treatment. There is, however, another side of the subject, which raust, I think, attract notice, or at least criticism, and this is the applicability of the results of analysis to the history of the earth and of the other planets, 236 NATURE aiid a i eels | ee [ Fan. 8, 1880 We know that no solids are either perfectly rigid or perfectly elastic, and that no fluids are devoid of internal friction, and therefore the tides raised in any planet, whether consisting of oceanic tides or of a bodily distor- tion of the planet, must be subject to friction. From this it follows that the dynamical investigation must be applicable to some extent to actual planets and satellites. For myself, I believe that it gives the clue to the history of the system, but of course an ample field for criticism is here opened. The investigation is intended to be more especially applicable to the case of the earth and moon, and there- fore, instead of planet and satellite, the expressions earth and moon are used. The effect of tidal friction upon the eccentricity and inclination of the lunar orbit here affords the principal topic. The obliquity of the ecliptic, the diurnal rotation of the earth, and the moon’s periodic time were considered ina paper read before the Royal Society on December 19, 1878, and which will appear in the Phzlosophical Trans- actions for 1879. The present paper completes (as far as I now see) the main investigation for the case of the earth and moon, and therefore it is now possible to bring the various results to a focus. It appears then that, when we trace backwards in time the changes induced in the system of the earth and moon by tidal friction, we are led to an initial state which is defined as follows :— The earth and moon are found to be initially nearly in contact; the moon always opposite the same face of the earth, or moving very slowly relatively to the earth’s sur- face ; the whole system rotating in from two to four hours, about an axis inclined to the normal to the ecliptic at an angle of 11° 45’, or somewhat less; and the moon moving in a circular orbit, the plane of which is nearly coincident with the earth’s equator. This initial configuration suggests that the moon was produced by the rupture, in consequence of rapid rotation or other causes, of a primeval planet, whose mass was made up of the present earth and moon. The coincidence is noted in the paper, that the shortest period of revolution of a fluid mass of the same mean density as the earth, which is consistent with an ellipsoidal form of equilibrium, is two hours twenty-four minutes ; and that if the moon were to revolve about the earth with this periodic time, the surfaces of the two bodies would be almost in contact with one another. The rupture of the primeval planet into two parts is a matter of speculation, but if a planetand satellite be given in the initial configuration above described, then a system bearing a close resemblance to our own, would necessarily be evolved under the influence of tidal friction. The theory postulates that there is not sufficient diffused matter to materially resist the motions of the moon and earth through space. Sufficient lapse of time is also re- quired. Ina previous paper I showed that the minimum time in which the system could have degraded from the initial state, just after the rupture into two bodies, down to the present state, is fifty-four million years. The time actually occupied by the changes would certainly be much longer. It appears to me that a theory, reposing on a vera causa, which brings into quantitative correlation the lengths of the present day and month, the obliquity of the ecliptic and the inclination and eccentricity of the lunar orbit, must have considerable claims to acceptance. It was stated that the periodic times of revolution and rotation of the moon and earth might be traced back to a common period of from two to four hours. Ina previous paper the common period was found to be a little over five hours in length ; but that result was avowedly based on a partial neglect of the sun’s attraction. In this paper certain further considerations are adduced, which show that, while the general principle remains intact, yet the common period of revolution of the earth and moon must initially have been shorter than five hours to an amount which is uncertain, but is probably large. The period of from two to four hours is here assigned, because it is mechanically impossible for the moon to revolve about the earth in less than two hours, and it is uncertain how the rupture of the primeval planet took place. But if tidal friction has been the agent by which the earth and moon have been brought into their present configuration, then similar changes must have been going on in the other bodies which make up the solar system. I will therefore make a few remarks on the other satellites and planets. In the first place it is in strict accordance with the theory, that the moon should always present the same face towards the earth. Helmholtz, was, I believe, the first who suggested tidal friction as the cause of the reduc- tion of the moon’s axial rotation to identity with: her orbital motion. It is interesting to note in this connection that the telescope seems to show that the satellites of Jupiter, and one at least of the satellites of Saturn, also have the same peculiarity. The process by which tidal friction brings about the changes in the configuration of a planet and satellite is a destruction of energy (or rather its partial conversion into heat within the planet, and partial redistribution), and a transference of angular momentum from that of planet- ary rotation to that of orbital revolution of the two bodies about their common centre of inertia. : Now a large planet has both more energy of rotation and more angular momentum ; hence it is to be expected that large planets should proceed in their changes more slowly than small ones. Mars is the smallest of the planets, which are attended by satellites, and it is here alone that we find a satellite revolving faster than the planet rotates. This will also be the ultimate fate of our moon, because after the joint lunar and solar tidal friction has reduced the earth’s rota- tion to an identity with the moon’s orbital motion, the solar tidal friction will continue to reduce it still further, so that the earth will rotate faster than the moon revolves. Before, however, this can take place with us, the moon must recede to an enormous distance from the earth, and the earth must rotate in forty or fifty days instead of in twenty-four hours. But the satellites of Mars are so small, that they would only recede a very short way from the planet, before the solar tidal friction reduced the planet’s rotation below the satellite’s revolution. The rapid revolution of the inner satellite of Mars may then, in a sense, be considered as a memorial of the primitive rota- tion of the planet round its axis. The planets Jupiter and Saturn are very much larger than the earth, and here we find the planets rotating with creat speed, and the satellites revolving with short periodic times, The inclinations of the orbits of Jupiter’s satellites to their “proper planes” are very interesting from the point of view of the present theory. The Saturnian system is much more complex than that of Jupiter, and it seems partially in an early stage of development and partially far advanced. The details of the motions of the satellites are scarcely well enough known to afford strong arguments either for or against the theory. I have not as yet investigated the case of a planet or star attended by several satellites, but perhaps future in- vestigations may throw further light both on the case of Saturn, and on the whole solar system itself. The celebrated nebular hypothesis of Laplace and Kant supposes that a revolving nebula detached a ring, which ultimately became consolidated into a planet or satellite, and that the central portion of the nebula continued to contract, and formed the nucleus of the sun or planet. | ‘The theory now proposed is a considerable modification of this view, for it supposes that the rupture of the central body did not take place until it was partially consolidated, and had attained nearly its present dimensions. I do not pretend, in these remarks, to have thoroughly discussed the cases of the other planets, and have only drawn attention to a few salient features; in the paper itself the subject is considered at greater length. It will, however, I think, be admitted that the theory agrees with some remarkable facts in the solar system. G. H. DARWIN THE SEXUAL COLOURS OF CERTAIN BUTTERFLIES Dis SCHULTE, of Fiirstenwalde, has called my attention to the beautiful colours which appear on all four wings of a butterfly, the Diadema dolina, when looked at from one point of view. The two sexes of this butterfly differ widely in colour. The wings of the male, when viewed from behind, are black with six marks of pure white, and they present an elegant appearance; but when viewed in front, in which position, as Dr. Schulte remarks, the male would be seen by the female when approaching her, the white marks are surrounded by a halo of beautiful blue. Mr. Butler, also showed me in the British Museum an analogous and more striking case in the genus Apatura, in which the sexes likewise differ in colour, and in the males the most magnificent green and blue tints are visible only to a person standing in front. Again with Ornithoptera the hind wings of the male are in several species of a fine golden yellow, but only when viewed in front ; this holds good with O. ma- gellanus but here we have a partial exception, as was pointed out to me by Mr. Butler, for the hind wings when viewed from behind change from a golden tint into a pale iridescent blue. Whether this latter colour has any special meaning could be discovered only by some one observing the behaviour of the male in its native home. Butterflies when at rest close their wings, and their lower surfaces, which are often obscurely tinted, can then alone be seen ; and this it is generally admitted, serves as a protection. But the males, when courting the females, alternately depress and raise their wings, thus displaying _ the brilliantly coloured upper surface ; and it seems the natural inference that they act in this manner in order to charm or excite the females. In the cases above described this inference is rendered much more probable, as the full beauty of the male can be seen by the female only when he advances towards her. We are thus reminded of the elaborate and diversified manner in which the males of many birds, for instance the peacock, argus pheasant, &c., display their wonderful plumage to the greatest advantage before their unadorned friends. The consideration of these cases leads me to add a few ; remarks on how far consciousness necessarily comes into play in the first acquirement of certain instincts, in- cluding sexual display ; for as all the males of the same species behave in the same manner whilst courting the female, we may infer that the display is at least now instinctive. Most naturalists appear to believe that every instinct was at first consciously performed ; but this seems to mean erroneous conclusion in many cases, though true in others, Birds, when variously excited, assume strange attitudes and ruffle their feathers ; and if the erection of the feathers in some particular manner were advan- tageous to a male whilst courting the female, there does not seem to be any improbability in the offspring which in- herited this action being favoured ; and we know that odd tricks and new gestures performed unconsciously are often inherited by man. We may take a different case (which I believe has been already advanced by some one), that of young ground birds which squat and hide themselves when in danger immediately after emerging from the egg ; ee —— a a“ - i” NATURE ; 237 and here it seems hardly possible that the habit could have been consciously acquired just after birth without any experience. But if those young birds which remained motionless when frightened, were oftener preserved from beasts of prey than those which tried to escape, the habit of squatting might have been acquired without any consciousness on the part of the young birds. This reasoning applies with special force to some young wading and water birds, the old of which do not conceal them- selves when in danger. Again a hen partridge when there is danger flies a short distance from her young ones and leaves them closely squatted ; she then flutters along the ground as if crippled, in the wonderful manner which is familiar to almost every one; but differently from a really wounded bird, she makes herself conspicuous. Now i is more than doubtful whether any bird ever existed with sufficient intellect to think that if she imitated the actions of an injured bird she would draw away a dog or other enemy from her young ones ; for this presupposes that she had observed such actions in an injured comrade and knew that they would tempt an enemy to pursuit. Many naturalists now admit that, for instance, the hinge of a shell has been formed by the preservation and inheritance of successive useful variations, the individuals with a somewhat better constructed shell being preserved in greater numbers than those with a less well constructed one; and why should not beneficial variations in the inherited actions of a partridge be preserved in like manner, without any thought or conscious intention on her part any more than on the part of the mullusc, the hinge of whose shell has been modified and improved independently of consciousness. CHARLES DARWIN Down, December 16, 1879 NOTES WE are much pleased to be able to announce that the Com- mittee of the British Association for the Exploration of Socotra have secured the services of Dr. I. B. Balfour, Professor of Botany at Glasgow, as naturalist. Besides many other qualifica- tions for the post Dr. Balfour has recently taken part in the execution of a similar piece of work as one of the naturalists attached to the station for the observation of the Transit of Venus at Rodriguez. Dr. Balfour will leave for Aden on the gth inst., and proceed thence to Socotra. M. Perrier, the head of the French Survey, has been app »inted a Member of the Academy of Sciences. It may be remembered that M. Perrier is a commander on the staff, and has just accomplished one of the greatest geodetic feats on record, the connection of the South of Spain with the Algerian province of Oran. M. Perrier is a supporter of M. Roudaire’s scheme, and his appointment is considered likely to accelerate the work of the survey for the great Saharan Railway. WE are pleased to see that a movement is on foot to erect an educational natural history museum in Perth, asa memorial to the late Sir Thomas Moncrieffe, president of the Perthshire Natu- ral History Society. From a statement sent us by Dr. Buchanan White, we notice that the organisers have a rational idea of what such an institution should be, and their scheme is a com- prehensive one, having in view the education of the citizens of the ancient burgh, as well as the collection of objects of natural history connected with the county. A generous citizen of Perth, Mr. Robert Pullar, offers 500/. of the 2,000/, which it is esti- mated the building will cost. M. E. Levasseur, a well-known French geographer, has invented an amusing an‘ instructive geographical game, to which he gives the name of ‘Tour du Monde.” It is played on a large terrestrial globe divided into 232 spherical rectangles, each of which has a number, corresponding to a number on a list, 238 NATURE [ Fan. 8, 1880 indicating gains or losses, in accordance with the nature of the rectangle to which it belongs. The game is played with eighteen flags corresponding to the principal States of the world, from China, the most populous, down to Holland, the least populous. A brass slip, from pole to pole, contains eighteen holes, into which the flags are successively placed by the players at each revolu- tion, commencing at the south pole and moving northwards. The gains and losses correspond with the nature of the facts indicated in the space above which a flag may stand when the globe stops revolving. Thus London counts thirty, Paris twenty, and so on, according to population. A coal-mine, a Manchester cotton factory, a grain centre, all count for gains ; while meeting a Zulu or a lion in Africa, a storm in Atlantic or Pacific, a crocodile in the Nile, being caught in the Polar ice, &e., count for losses. ‘Thus it will be seen, the new game is calculated to afford considerable excitement as well as instruction. Dr. B. W. RicHARDSON has been re-elected Assessor of the University Council of St. Andrew’s University. This will be Dr. Richardson’s third term of office. WE last week referred to the new appointment to the Registrar- General s Ss S a S ye a ira ea eT) 1 A and of ordinary type. They are black on a white ground. 200 generally takes the place of 100 and obliterates it. There is no light or shade, and the picture is invariable. Fic. 6 Another sister gives a picture in which the numbers form a vertical line from 1, opposite to the eye, up to 100, at which point the scale appears to recede from her. The third sister writes :— 19. Figures always stand out distinctly in Arabic numerals ; they are black on a white ground, of this size [the specimen was 73 Fic. 7. elear and round, and in rather large ordinary handwriting], but the numeral rg is smaller than the rest. It is curious that the lines of most of the diagrams I hhave thus far given should be so feeble and, to appear- ance, wandering, although as a matter of fact they are firmly fixed. Artists speak of the “leading lines” in a picture, and commend pictures in which the leading lines are graceful. I have little doubt that one of the reasons why minds vary in artistic power is that the leading channelsin the blank schedules of their minds vary in character. I should expect that natural artists might be found whose habit was to visualise numerals not in shaky lines, but in bold and beautiful curves. In the instances I am about to give, especially in the first of them, there is more tendency to geometric precision, and I should be most curious to learn (by actual and careful test) whether or no such cases are generally correlated with a true eye to straightness, squareness, and symmetry. In the following example the numbers are not associated with visual figures, but with points on an ascending and descending scale, which is a pure line having neither breadth nor colour. It is described as perfectly flexible and extensible, much, I suppose, as if it were printed on a strip of india-rubber sheeting, and it is applicable to the measurement of large distances or small ones, to frac- tions, and to straight lines or curves. A very curious description is given in detail, which I will not here repro- duce, of the way in which the scale is used in mental arithmetic. The writer adds :— 20, The accompanying figure lies in a vertical plane, and is the picture seen in counting. The zero point never moves, it is 7” my mind; it is that point of space known as “here,” NATURE — - % A, 255 while all other points are outside or ‘‘ there.” When I was a child the zero point began the curve; now it is a fixed point in an infinite circle . . . I have had the curious bending from o to feazeee £2.90 -— "OL EDI i 4200 a ‘vd | | aD . ye i Le Ls 4c6y EP) i ! | 72003 es Te ae “9. £99 \ i { pit 90.009 Fic. 8. 30 as long as I can remember, and imagine each bend must mark a stage in early calculation. It is absent from the negative side of the scale, which has been added since childhood. Another correspondent sees figures in a circle, having 0 at the right hand of its horizontal diameter and 100 at the left hand. Positive numbers are reckoned from o to 100 from the right, over the top to the left, and negative numbers the other way. The same takes place with figures between 100 and 200, 200 and 300, &c. ; Another correspondent sees them for the most part in a regular row like park palings. ‘he description and sketch are as follows :— 2t. As far as 12 the numerals appear to be concealed in black shadow ; from 12 to 20 is illuminated space, in which I can distinguish no divisions. This I cannot illustrate, because it is simply cark and light sface, but with a tolerably sharp line of division at 12. From 20 to 100 the numerals present themselves as follows, but less distinctly :— 29 Webi dibttbsattnid a 4 4 wee TEE Lf Fic. 9. An account is appended of the way in which simple mental arithmetic is effected by this arrangement, which at present I pass over. : I will conclude my list with a statement written by a mathematical astronomer of rapidly rising reputation, whose “practice of working arithmetic” mentioned in the concluding paragraph must be understood to signify “ performing masses of laborious calculations ” :— 22. The numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, &c., are in a straight row, and I 256 am standing a little on one side. ‘hey go away in the distance’ so that 100 is the farthest number I can see distinctly. It iS dusky grey, and paler near to me ; up to 20 it occupies a dispro- portionate size. There are sorts of woolly lumps at the tens. These pictures are not of such frequent occurrence in my mind as formerly. The practice of working arithmetic has rather expelled them. Since the foregoing remarks were first sent to the printer, many additional cases have reached me, which I regret to have no space left to include. One very in- teresting group consists of three cousins and the daughter of one of them, Another case was brought to my notice by a correspondent ; it was published in the A//antic Monthly, February, 1873, p. 199, with an accompanying diagram, and is signed by Miss H.R. Hudson. I have little doubt that many allusions to the faculty of visualising numerals in diagrammatic and coloured shapes might be found to exist scattered here and there in various books. Of the many results to be drawn from the foregoing extracts, 1 do not at present care to dwell upon more than these. In the first place I am sure that all will agree with me in saying that the descriptions bear evident marks of careful and trustworthy observation. In the second place, although they refer to characteristics which the majority of my readers may not possess, their language is sufficiently clear to convey a good idea of what is meant to be conveyed. In the third place, these independent statements powerfully corroborate and ex- plain one another. Therefore, although philosophers may have written to show the impossibility of our discover- ing what goes on in the minds of others, I maintain an opposite opinion. I do not see why the report of a person upon his own mind should not be as intelligible and trustworthy as that of a traveller upon a new country, whose landscapes and inhabitants are of a different type to any which we ourselves have seen. It appears to me that inquiries into the mental constitution of other people is a most fertile field for exploration, especially as there is so much in the facts adduced here, as well as elsewhere, to show that original differences in mental constitution are permanent, being little modified by the accidents of education, and that they are strongly hereditary. I trust, therefore, that the publication of this. memoir may prove to be the means of inducing some persons to furnish me with information of the kind I am now seeking. I want to hear of well-marked and properly-authenticated instances of persons who are able to recall, or represent to their imagination, with great vividness, either sights, sounds, smells, or tastes, and to obtain information that may throw light on the peculiarities of the representative faculty in different families and races. FRANCIS GALTON 42, Rutland Gate, London ON A MODE OF EXPLAINING THE TRANS- VERSE VIBRATIONS OF LIGHT *) eeapie: has been considerable difficulty in arriving at a satisfactory conception of the means by which the transverse vibrations of light are produced in the ether. In the attempt to surmount this difficulty some have gone so far as to conjecture that this structure of the ether must resemble that of a so/éd,; for it was imagined that nothing but such a structure could propagate transverse vibrations. Yet the supposition of the ether being any- thing likea solid appears to be in direct antagonism to the evidence of our senses ; for we move about so freely in this ‘‘solid’’ as to be unconscious even of its existence. My object here is to direct attention more especially to a suggestion thrown out by the late Prof. Clerk Maxwell in regard to this point. This suggestion is contained in the article, ‘* Ether,” in the new edition of the “ Encyclo- pedia Britannica,” in connection with a notice of a theory -of the constitution of the ether (considered in special NATURE [ Fan. 15, 1880 relation to the problem of gravitation) by the present writer, and published in the PAzlosophical Magazine for September and November, 1877, and February, 1878. After referring to the fact that the present writer “has supposed that the ether is like a gas whose molecules very rarely interfere with each other, so that their mean path is far greater than any planetary distances,” Prof. Maxwell continues as follows :— ‘‘He has not investigated the properties of such a medium with any degree of completeness, but it is easy to see that we might form a theory in which the mole- cules! [atoms of ether] eve interfere with each other’s. motion of translation, but travel in all directions with the velocity of light ; and if we further suppose that vibrating bodies have the power of impressing on these atoms of ether some vector property (such as rotation about an axis) which does not interfere with their motion of trans- lation, and which is then carried along by the atoms of ether, and if the alternation of the average value of this vector for all the atoms of ether within an element of volume be the process which we call light, then the equa- tions which express this average will be of the same form as that which expresses the displacement in the ordinary theory.” There is one point in the above suggestion I would briefly remark upon, viz., the supposition made by Prof. Maxwell that the atoms of ether “ zever interfere with each other’s motion of translation ” [7.e., never encounter each other]. This supposition seems to have been called for by the fact previously mentioned in the same article (“Encye. Brit.” p. 572), viz., that ‘‘the ether transmits. transverse vibrations to very great distances without sensible loss of energy by dissipation,” whereas it is con- tended that if the ether atoms encountered each other (frequently at least), “the energy of the regular vibra- tions would be frittered away into that of the irregular agitation which we call heat.’ But I would venture to suggest that, as we have no proof that no dissipation whatever of the energy of light takes place in long dis- tances (but perhaps even some indication to the contrary), it would appear evident that no necessity really exists for supposing that the atoms of ether ever interfere with each other’s motion of translation. I think it will be admitted as a reasonable conclusion that so long as the dissipation of the energy (of the light) attendant on the mutual encounters of the ether atoms is no greater than observation allows us to suppose it to be, all conditions are satisfied. Moreover, it would seem that to suppose the ether atoms zever to interfere with each other's. motion of translation would be equivalent to assuming that their mean path is zwdefinitely great, which. appears. to involve the assumption that the atoms have no finite size or dimensions, which would put a. difficulty in the way of a satisfactory or consistent conception of matter. On this ground I would therefore suggest that the atoms. of ether may be considered to have a reasonably long free path [which may be conceived as great as we please, by simply conceiving the atoms small], and thus the dis- sipation of the energy of the light may be reduced within the limits required by observation. This does not alter in the least in its essential details the above suggestion by Prof. Maxwell as to the mode of production of the transverse vibrations of light, which I would accordingly enlarge upon and elaborate somewhat here (in connection with the special structure of gross matter required by the physical theory of gravity), First it is important to ob- serve that many observed facts lead us to infer that gross matter (probably the molecules? themselves) possesses a more or less ofen structure (or possesses a high degree of porosity). The transparency of some bodies, the free passage of the magnetic disturbance through all bodies, 1 I merely substitute ‘‘ atoms of ether” in the above passage for “‘mole- cules,” to avoid any possible ambiguity, as the word “ molecules ’” is cften applied to the parts of gross matter. 2 This is also in harmony with the modern theory of vortex-atoms. a i , and many other well known independent facts render this inference necessary. The fact that gravity is proportional to mass, on the basis of the dynamical theory (first started by Le Sage) also renders it essential to conclude that gross matter possesses an open structure [so that the atoms producing gravity can penetrate and act upon the interior of bodies]. If we admit this, and figure to our- selves the streams of ether atoms passing in all directions freely through the open structure of gross matter, and further, if we conceive the molecules of gross matter to be in a state of vibration (of regular periods, as proved by the spectroscope), then it is evident that these streams of ether atoms during their passage can, from the very nature of the case, be solely effected by the ¢ransverse component of the motion of the molecules of the luminous body. It is much as if the meshes of a sieve were in vibration, and a continuous stream of fine particles of sand (impelled by a current of air) were urged through it, when in however many different directions the filament forming the meshes of the sieve might be conceived to be vibrating, the sand particles that passed through in the onward stream could be only affected by the ‘¢vansverse component of the motion of the meshes. So the atoms of ether in their passage through the vibrating molecules of gross ‘matter are solely affected by the ¢ransverse component of the motion of the molecules. The ether atoms passing through the open structure of gross matter would be thus periodically deflected (or the ether atom itself thrown into vibration or rotation), and as the transverse impulses (whatever their exact nature) thus received by the stream of ether atoms would be perfectly ryhthmical or periodic, in harmony with the known periodic vibrations of the molecules through which the ether atoms pass, the /vazs- verse pulsatory or periodic nature of light would thus be produced. This view would also seem to be capable of surmounting in a very simple manner the difficulty that there has been in conceiving how the ether can transmit transverse vibrations to great distances without sensible loss of energy by dissipation. For it is evident that an ether atom after having passed through a luminous body and received energy from it, would have nothing? to give that energy (say vibration or rotation) to during its transit, since, by assuming the ether atom small, we may conceive its mean path as long as we please; so, there- fore, the energy carried by the ether atom from the luminous body could not possibly be dissipated during the transit of the atom, but this energy would be carried intact by the ether atom (through its normal motion of translation) until the distant object is reached, where the energy is given up in the form of heat and light. The normal motion of translation possessed by the ether atom performs the part of simple carrier of the energy received by the atom from the luminous body. It might possibly be thought at first sight that this theory had some resemblance in principle to the emission theory of light, but this is evidently not the case, as no atoms are emitted by the luminous body, but simply the atoms of ether in their normal state of translatory motion pass through objects in streams equally in all directions —the ether being regarded simply asa gas (according to the modern kinetic theory) with atoms of very long free path. It is a known mathematical fact that no conse- quence how close the atoms of ether may be together (Z.e., no consequence how many in unit of volume) their mean path may become as great as we please, by simply conceiving the atoms adequately small. It further follows from the known principles investigated in connection with the kinetic theory of gases, that these atoms will of them- selves automatically adjust their motions so as to move with perfect uniformity or eguadly in all directions ; this adjustment being of such a rigid character that if the 1 This holds equally true, whether we conceive space as empty, or space to be filled with a perfect (frictionless) liquid that A/ays the exact part of empty Sface, in so far as itis known to be impossible to operate upon or communi- cate energy to such a liquid, - NATURE — ’ — 257 atoms were imagined to be disturbed or made to move in the most chaotic manner, they would, when left to them- selves, instantly correct the irregularity, and return to the above regular form of motion, z.¢., so that the atoms move egually in all directions. It follows from this, therefore, that if we take any given point (suchas where a luminous body is situated), the atoms of ether will “‘radiate” from and to this point along all the imaginary radii of a sphere described from this point as a centre; so that those ether atoms which have passed through the luminous point (and have carried energy off with them) will diminish in number (per unit of spherical area) as the sguare of the radial distance from the luminous point, the energy, there- fore, diminishing in the same ratio, which is the “law” of light. The “law” of gravity (which is found also to diminish as the sgvare of the distance) may be accounted for on the same priaciple. It has been shown by the present writer (in the papers published in the P/z?. Mag. previously alluded to) that in accepting Le Sage’s ingenious sheltering principle as the fundamental basis of the explanation of gravity, there is no necessity for admitting any of his postulates regarding the particular motions of the atoms (corpuscles) required to produce the result. For it may be shown that the whole of the conditions requisite for gravity will automatically fulfil themselves by simply admitting the existence of a body in space, constituted according to the kinetic theory of gases (and whose atoms have an adequately long free path). There is no necessity to suppose, with Le Sage, the existence of “ultramundane corpuscles,” or that the atoms producing gravity come from outside the bounds of the visible universe, so that a continuous supply of matter from without is necessary to maintain gravity within the confines of the visible universe. On the contrary, the conditions are satisfied by merely supposing the universe to be immersed in a gas, which, as a whole (like any other gas) is at rest. The motion (in streams) requisite for gravity takes place solely within the range of free path of the atoms of the gas; just (as is known) in every ordinary gas the atoms within the range of free path are moving in streams equally in all direc- tions. The only difference is that in the case of the ether, on account of the smallness of the atoms (which is in harmony with their high velocity), the range of free path is great—equal to the range of gravity. We have no proof that the range of gravity extends across stellar dis- tances, and there is clearly no necessity for assuming it to prevail over greater distances than observation war- rants. By the explanation of gravity by the physical theory, the remarkable and anomalous distinction between two kinds of matter (‘‘ponderable” and ‘imponder- able”) vanishes. Matter is shown of its essence to be all alike, ‘‘ ponderability,” or the tendency to approach, not being an occult or magic quality, but simply an effect dependent on differing dynamical conditions,! and_ the variation of the intensity of which as the sguare of the distance it is as necessary to account for dynamically as in the analogous case of light. ; t It appears, therefore, from the above considerations, that the same medium shows itself to be capable of accounting for, in their essential groundwork, the pheno- mena of both gravity and the propagation of light. The theory of gravity is based upon the well-known sheltering principle of Le Sage, which has already found favour with some eminent physicists. The normal trans- latory motion of the atoms of the medium produces gravity, and this motion serves as a vehicle for the propa- gation of light, while the light itself consists in the 1 The fact of the property of ‘‘ ponderability’’ having been attributed to Toss matter as an occult quality (not an effect depending on dynamical coh- itions), has naturally brought the ether—which does not possess this property—into direct contrast with gross matter, as if it were an anomalous substance, of its essence distinct from gross matter. This circumstance has no duubt naturally contributed to produce a_ distaste for the study of the ether and to cause some to treat this magnificent physical agent as if it were desired rather to ignore than to take a rational interest in its existence. 258 NATURE [ Fan. 15, 1880 abnormal fvausverse disturbance produced in the streams of atoms in their passage through the vibrating molecules of luminous bodies. A Finally, it may be shown that, quite independently of any consideration of the effects of gravity and light, the inference is a necessary one that the constitution of the ether must in principle be that of a gas, because this solu- tion to the problem of the constitution of the ether exhausts the limits of the conceivable: z.¢., if any rational solution to the problem or exf/anation capable of appre- ciation by the reason exists, then it would follow that this must be the true solution to the problem. This will be- come more and more evident on reflecting on the subject. For it is clear that a motion 77 straight lines is the only motion possible to particles of matter moving freely in space; for particles of matter cannot of themselves change the directions of their motions. They can only do this at their encounters. Hence the inference is neces- sary that the particles of ether move 77 straight dines (and therefore that the ether is constituted as a gas). Hence in principle it seems apparent that the above is essentially the only conceivable solution of which the problem of the constitution of the ether admits. It seems remarkable that this fact (important as it is) is not more generally recognised and appreciated. Can this be referable in any way to the influence the theory of “action at a distance” has had, and that the endless empty and profitless specu- lations arising therefrom have diverted attention from the ‘subject ? It might be said that we have expressly assumed the existence of “particles” (or atoms) of matter in the above result as to the constitution of the ether, whereas some might contend that the ether is not aéomic at all My answer to this is, that unless we assume the ether to be atomic,' we cannot give any explanation of its proper- ties, and these properties can exist solely in virtue of the ‘explanation that underlies them. In connection with this the following remark of Prof. Clerk Maxwell (‘On the Dynamical Theory of Gases,” Phi’. Trans., 1867, p. 49) may be quoted, as to the point :— “Tn certain applications of mathematics to physical questions, it is convenient to suppose bodies homoge- neous, . .. but Iam not aware that any theory of this kind has been proposed to account for the different pro- perties of bodies. Indeed, the properties of a body supposed to be a uniform p/enwm may be affirmed dog- matically, but cannot be explained mathematically.” Hence to assume the ether to be anything else than -alomic, would be to affirm its properties “dogmatically.” If we avoid this, therefore, we must consider it atomic (and therefore a gas): for (as we pointed out), atoms in ‘free motion can only move zz straight lines. It is of ‘course evident that, unless the atoms of ether be zx motion, we cannot account for any of its properties, un- less, indeed, we resort to the now practically defunct theory of ‘faction at a distance,” and assume the atoms ‘to be endowed with mysterious and occult powers, which renders any exf/anation impossible, and only increases instead of diminishing the difficulty. To illustrate somewhat further the insuperable nature of the difficulty involved, unless we assume the atoms of ‘ether to be in motion in their normal state, I quote the following passage from a lecture by Prof. Tait on ‘‘ The t It is almost needless to add that the vortex-atom theory is essentially an azomic theory. Although it assumes a perfect liquid to fill all space, yet this liquid (outside the portions of it that form the atoms) plays the part of -pure space, since it is impossible to communicate energy to the liquid out- side the atoms, or to act upon it at all. It is therefore (as far as practical effects are concerned) as if the liquid exterior to the atoms did not exist. The vortex-atom theory does not, therefore, essentially alter (as some might be disposed to imagine) the conceptions of the ancients of indestructible atoms surrounded by space in which they can freely move. The main purpose of the vortex-atom theory is to prove dynamically how atoms can be ‘‘ edastic,”’ and be comutle of executing regular vibrations as the spectro- Scope proves (and actually measures the number of vibrations executed per second, in the case of the molecules of gross matter), Position and Prospects of Physical Science,” delivered November 7, 1860 (p. 15 in pamphlet) :— “Tf we suppose it [the ether] to consist . .. of de- tached particles . . . we are met bythe further difficulty, how do these particles act on each other, and without some such action there could be no transmission of motion—they are not in contact, there must therefore be something between them to convey the effect. This appears certain, for how can action be conceived as exerted across empty space?” I will merely here remark parenthetically that the fact appears to have escaped notice here that this difficulty is got over by assuming the particles (of ether) to be zz motion ; for then the particles can act on each other by direct impact without the necessity for anything “ between them to convey the effect.” The passage goes on to say :— “We must, therefore, have a second medium to fill the interstices between the particles of ether. If this again consist of detached particles, there will be a third required that these may act on each other—and so on. If, then, we would not have an infinite number of different kinds of matter in each element of space, we must suppose one of these—say the ether itself—to be continuous, that is, not consisting of ultimate parts. ow vibratory motions could be transmitted through such a substance, it is difficult to imagine—the whole subject is beset with overwhelming difficulties.” In the above passage the difficulties that attend the assumption of the ether being a continuous substance, or uniform glenum, are well illustrated. It will be seen that the main dilemma vanishes by assuming the particles of ether to be zy szofion in their normal state. Indeed, this is evidently the only conceivable way of solving the difficulty. F I would, therefore, venture to suggest that the result above arrived at as a solution to the problem of the constitution of the ether might be worthy of the attention of physicists, especially in its bearing on the explanation of gravity (on the basis of Le Sage’s fundamental principle now recognised by several eminent authorities, including Sir W. Thomson)—also in relation to a mode of ex- plaining the ¢vazsverse vibrations of light, the main idea involved in which was suggested by Prot. Clerk Maxwell. Addendum.—I may mention that I have lately re- ceived a book (“Das Rithsel von der Schwerkraft”— Wieweg und Sohn, Braunschweig) through the kindness of the author, Dr. Isenkrahe, of Crefeld, where a theory is applied to the constitution of the ether and to gravity, which resembles in some points that adopted by the present writer. This book bears date 1879, but the MS. was prepared earlier (1877). I may note that a book, “Physics of the Ether” (E. and F. N. Spon), was pub- lished by me in 1875, where in principle the same theory of the ether as here given is developed, though it was not applied by me to gravity until 1877. The work of Dr. Isenkrahe contains, in addition, a valuable descrip- tion and criticism of the various attempts to solve the problem of gravitation. Perhaps I may append, for the benefit of those who are interested in the question, the references to some of the chief of these here, viz. :— Huyghens’ “ Discours sur la Cause de la Pesanteur.’’ Leyden, 1690. i Le Sage’s theory 1764, given in ‘‘Deux Traités de Physique mécanique,” by Pierre Prevost. Sir W. Thomson’s development of Le Sage’s theory, Royal Society of Edinburgh, 1872, and Philosophical Magazine, May, 1873. p Schramm, “ Die allgemeine Bewegung der Materie als Grundursache der Naturerscheinungen,” Vienna, 1872. _ Secchi, “Die Einheit der Naturkrafte’’ (German edi- tion). Leipzig, 1876. . y These facts may show an awakening to the importance of the problem of gravitation, and I may conclude with coe. Fan. 15, 1880] NATURE 259 the words of Dr. Isenkrahe [translation]: “One is be- ginning to recognise that physics has been quietly sleeping for two centuries upon [in the words of Newton] ‘a great absurdity,’ for which no one less than Newton can be made responsible”’ [page 125]. S. TOLVER PRESTON THE NATURAL HISTORY OF THE TRANSIT OF VENUS EXPEDITION? | is 1870 one of our correspondents called attention? to the favourable opportunity that would then shortly present itself for the exploration of some very little known parts of the earth’s surface. Some of the positions selected by our astronomers for the observation of the Transit of Venus of 1874 were in little known islands of the Pacific and Indian Oceans, and it was pointed out that the addition to the astronomers’ staff of a small corps of naturalists would not materially increase the expendi- ture, and would possibly lead to very interesting scientific results. The same subject was brought before the notice of the British Association at their Meeting in 1871 by Mr. Sclater,® who likewise suggested that so good a chance of adding to our knowledge of the natural history of some of the least known parts of the world should not be thrown away, and urged that Naturalisis should be appointed to at least three of the stations to be occupied by the astro- nomers, namely Kerguelen Island, Rodriguez and the Sandwich Islands. Z Subsequently the same idea was taken up by the Council of the Royal Society, who resolved to request the Treasury to attach naturalists to the expeditions destined for the two first above-named localities—“ two of the least explored and most inaccessible islands in the southern hemisphere’’— and appointed a committee consisting of Sir Joseph Hooker, Prof. Huxley, and Mr. Sclater, to prepare the necessary applic:tion to the Government for this purpose. We need not now repeat the arguments which these gentlemen brought before Her Majesty’s chief advisers—it is enough to say that they were of a sufficiently cogent character to obtain the sanction of the Treasury to the appointment of four naturalists for the purposes required ; three for Rodriguez and one for Kerguelen’s Land. The gentlemen selected for the work by the Council of the Royal Society were for Rodriguez, Mr. George Gulliver, Dr. I. B. Balfour, and Mr. H. H. Slater, and for Kerguelen’s Land the Rev. A. E. Eaton. Mr. Gulliver was directed to investigate the fauna of Rodriguez gene- rally, Dr. Balfour was charged with the duties of botanist and geologist, and Mr. Slater was set to dig out the caves of the same island, and to collect the fossil remains of extinct birds known to be imbedded in them. Mr. Eaton was thought to be specially qualified to investigate the fauna and flora of Kerguelen’s Land, as having been previously-naturalist to one of the Arctic expeditions. The collections and observations made by these natu- ralists fulfilled, as we are informed, the expectations of the Council. Theresults of them are given in the present work, which is issued as an extra volume (No. 168) of the Philosophical Transactions. The plan upon which the collections were worked out, and which is in fact the only plan upon which a mass of heterogeneous materials can be properly worked out now- a-days, is an admirable one. The different objects were *** An Account of the Petrological, Botanical, and Zoological Collections made in Kerguelen’s Land and Rodriguez during the Transit of Venus Expeditions, carried out by Order of Her Majesty's Government in the Years 1874-75." Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, vol. elxviil. Extra volume, 1879. 2 Bee article on the Transits of Venus in 1874 and 1882. Nature, vol. “iP p. 526. 5 See ‘‘ Remarks on a Favourable Occasicn for the Establishment of Zoologi- cal Observatories.”” By P. L. Sclater, M.A., Ph.D., F.R.S. Rep, Brit. Ass., 1871, pt. li., p. 134. assigned for examination to experts in different branches of science, each of whom has prepared his own report on what was submitted to him. These reports, prefaced by a few introductory remarks, and illustrated by notes of the collectors, constitute the volume now before us. It is divided into two sections, the first relating to Kerguelen, and the second to Rodriguez. After a chapter by Mr. Eaton on the physical features of Kerguelen, and on the previous visits to it by naturalists, we find a series of essays on the botany by Sir J. Hooker, Mr. Mitten, the Rev. J. M. Crombie, Dr. Dickie, and other well-known authorities. Then follows a similar series of memoirs upon the zoology of the same island. The zoological and botanical collections made in Rodriguez are next treated of in the same way,and we have here also a valuable memoir on the petrology of Rodriguez by Mr. N. S. Maskelyne. From the last-named essay itturns out that the notion that this island consists of “ granite overlaid with limestone, and other recent rocks,” which was entertained by the Committee of the Royal Society, misled by previous inaccurate observations, is altogether erroneous. Mr. Maskelyne tells us that “the numerous specimens illustrating the rock formations of the Isle of Rodriguez, collected by Mr. I. Bayley Balfour from different localities, need only a cursory inspection to attest the volcanic character of the whole mass of the island. “Rodriguez, in fact, consists of doleritic lavas that appear to have been poured out at a considerable number of volcanic orifices at successive periods. It would be difficult, without more minute description of the physical geography of the island than is accessible, to assign any precise date of duration to these volcanic eruptions, or to trace with any certainty the degree to which, and the mode in which, subsequent denudation has helped in giving the island its present remarkable aspect. “But the fact of that denudation and the degree to which alteration has proceeded in affecting the minerals composing rocks that by their position must have been among the later of the out-poured lavas, would point to a remote date, possibly to one contemporary with the tertiary period, as that of the volcanic activity of Rodriguez.” We have not space here to go separately into the numer- ous essays that compose this work. For many of them, the name of the author is quite sufficient to assure us of their excellence, some of the most accomplished naturalists of the present epoch having contributed to the volume. But it is quite evident that a thoroughly good and satisfactory piece of scientific work has been thus accomplished at a very small cost, and that the council of the Royal Society, who planned the whole scheme and carried it out, and especially those two members of it (Sir Hooker and Dr. Giinther), who have so efficiently edited this account of the results attained, are entitled to the warmest thanks of all naturalists. Several other nations sent out expeditions to observe the Transit of 1874, and likewise had naturalists attached to their staffs, who have published some valuable observations. But nothing like the handsome and solid volume now before us, with its fifty-five admirably executed litho- graphic plates, has been produced on this occasion in France, Germany, or America. There are certainly some advantages in having a Royal Society at the head of Science instead of a Royal Academy ! Having said this much, we will venture on two small’ criticisms :—First, it is a great pity that there are no. maps given in the volume now before us. Without reference to maps it is not possible to appreciate the significance of many of the observations made by the naturalists, and as no generally available atlas contains charts of such obscure islets as Rodriguez and Kerguelen, maps ought to have been attached to the work itself. In. fact, every zoo-geographical memoir now-a-days ought to. be illustrated by a map. 260 NATURE Secondly, it is unfortunate that naturalists were not likewise sent to Oahu, in the Sandwich Islands, where there was likewise an astronomical station in 1874. The Sandwich Islands, as was pointed out by our correspon- dent in 1870, are the seat of a most peculiar indigenous flora and fauna, which is now fast perishing beneath the assaults of European weeds and animals introduced from other countries. Dr. Finsch, who was lately at Honolulu on his way to the Northern Pacific, tells us (Jbis, 1880, p. 79) that during a week’s stay in that city and its vicinity, he saw zo dirds except introduced species, and had to go far into the interior to obtain examples of the indigenous Avi-fauna, and that the “ native forests are going in the same way.’’ It is a great misfortune, then, that this should happen before we have any good account of this peculiar flora and fauna which rivals in eccentricity even that of the Galepagos. And as another Transit occurs in 1882, we trust that should our astronomers again visit any one of the Sandwich Islands group, a staff of efficient naturalists will be sent in their company. _ ARTIFICIAL DIAMONDS U NDER the heading of “The Crystallisation of Carbon’’ Mr. Crookes writes as follows in the last number of the Chemical News :— Since sending the telegram‘ announcing that carbon crystals, apparently diamond, could without difficulty be produced from any carbon compound, Mr. Mactear has sent me several specimens of his supposed artificial diamond. He has also called upon me with other speci- mens, and has explained the whole process by which he obtains such remarkable results. As, however, he has sent to the Royal Society a paper which will probably be read in the course of a week or two, J am not yet at liberty to give details of the process. The general character of the specimens now in my possession may be described as irregularly shaped masses from I mm. downwards in diameter, with rounded angles, and showing no definite crystalline appearance. They are whitish looking, translucent, and as a rule lustreless ; many pieces are almost spherical and appear like frag- ments of corundum which have been water worn. Amongst these are perfectly clear fragments larger in size, some being 3 or 4mm. across, having a conchoidal fracture exactly like glass. In a paper “On Molecular Physics in High Vacua,’’ read before the Royal Society in March last, and now being published in the PAz/osophical Transactions, 1 re- ferred to the remarkable power possessed by the molecu- lar rays in a high vacuum of causing phosphorescence in bodies on which they fall, and I remarked that the only body which surpassed Becquerel’s luminous sulphides both in brilliancy and variety of colour is the diamond. Most of these gems, whether cut or in the rough, when coming from the South African fields, phosphoresce of a brilliant light blue colour. Diamonds from Brazil shine with different colours, such as bright blue, pale blue, apricot, red, yellowish green, orange, and light green. A beautiful collection of diamond crystals, kindly lent me by Prof. Maskelyne, phosphoresced with nearly all the colours of the rainbow, the different faces glowing with different shades of colour. On receiving the specimens from Mr. Mactear, I immediately submitted them to the molecular discharge. The following are the results I have at present obtained :— In a high vacuum the specimens phosphoresce brightly of different colours—pale blue, orange, apricot, and yellowish green. The clear glassy frasments are also phosphorescent. The appearance of the phosphorescence is very similar to that shown by small, rough diamonds from Brazil, called in the trade “Boart;” indeed, had I not known the history of the fragments in my tube, I * Chemical News, yol. xl. p. 306 (December 26, 1879). should, from their appearance, have said that they were small fragments of. Brazilian Boart. ; The opaque rounded appearante of the fragments is unlike that of the natural diamond, but by heating a rough diamond before the blowpipe until it has partly burnt away, it assumes a very similar appearance to that of Mr. Mactear’s crystals, and it is therefore not unlikely, from their mode of preparation, that these crystals have undergone partial combustion after their formation—a fact which would explain this difference in appearance. Other specimens having been placed by Mr. Mactear in competent hands, with a view of determining their hard- ness and chemical properties, I have refrained from making experiments in this direction. W.C. We append a letter on the subject from Prof. Maskelyne in the Zzmes of the 8th inst. :— As I know that a portion of the public is very much interested in the diamond question, and inthe result of the interview Mr. Mactear announced that he and I were to have in connection with it, I think, perhaps; it will be well to say that I have had the pleasure of working with that gentleman many hours yesterday and to-day, and that our results so far convince me that, while my own conclusions, as announced in the Z7z7es, are borne out as regards at least the portion of the substances on which I worked, there are other portions of those substances that differ from these in properties and still require investiga- tion ; that, in fact, the material is a mixture of, different bodies. When I say that I have as yet no evidence of the existence of crystalline carbon, whether as diamonds or in some other condition, among these bodies, I feel that Mr. Mactear makes a reasonable request of me in asking that I should invite a suspension of opinion regarding a discovery he believes that he has made. A portion of the material he has produced is very hard, and, I believe, bears out his claim to have scratched topaz and sapphire. Mr. Mactear wishes me to add that the diamond has been also abraded by his product and to inclose to you a certificate to that effect. Mr. Mactear wishes me also to state that he claims simply to have produced a crystalline form of carbon irrespective of the question of whether this is the diamond, I am, Sir, your obedient servant, NEVIL STORY-MASKELYNE British Museum, January 7 We may state that in the 77mes of the same date is a certificate from Mr. L. Boston, of Glasgow, that he has been able “to scratch a diamond and to engrave two rubies, two sapphires, an amethyst, and a cairngorm”’ with Mr. Mactear’s “ crystallised carbon sand.” THE “TIMES” ON BRITISH BIRDS INA UR live a life of surprises, but the sur- prise with which ornithologists must have one day last week received certain positive assurances of the leading journal would surely overstep the bounds of ordinary astonishment. We have, no doubt, been passing through a “silly season” of unwonted severity, as the morris-dance of late performed by many of the pseudo- ornithological correspondents of the Z%mes proves ; but arecent leading article in that journal eclipses all else that it has published on the subject. After declaring that “our birds are the glory of the land,” and piously ascribing that glory to the upper regions, the writer goes on to compare England with France in the matter of its birds, saying, of course, nothing that was not quite well known before, except the extraordinary statement that “France has produced ornithologists, but they have had to leave her shores.” The meaning of this is entirely beyond us, for every one knows who cares to know that France now possesses a large number of ornithologists—and one indeed, M. (Xan. 15, 1880 : a ea Se ee ee) a le neal NATURE 261 Alphonse Milne-Edwards, who on some points is: the greatest ornithological authority that has ever lived... We are then told of an Oxford undergraduate who “took a walk with his gun in Bagley Wood and brought home fifty different specimens which he carefully stuffed.’”’ “ He had a museum,” it is added, “ of several hundreds.” We are not told whether this Oxford undergraduate’s conduct is worthy of praise or blame, nor would it much signify, for the writer is evidently confused in his notion of “specimens” and “species.” To kill specimens of fifty different sfeces in one day and in one wood, though not easy, could no doubt be done in many places, but it would be hard to kill fifty birds that were not different specimens! \Vould the writer also be surprised to learn that “a museum,”’ or a collection, as people nowadays more humbly style it, ‘fof several hundreds,’’ was some fifty years ago by no means uncommon, and that of late years private collections include not only thousands of specimens, but thousands of species ? But now comes the most astonishing assertion of all. We are told that “Mr. Morris describes more than twelve hundred birds,” and that there may be no mistake in’ the writer’s meaning, he subsequently repeats. the statement in this wise: “ Of the twelve hundred British birds, a good many are represented by a single stray specimen,” and soon! The ornithologists of this country have hitherto been deemed by their continental brethren somewhat too hasty in enrolling as “ British’? every chance waif from foreign lands and seas that has had the ill luck to show itself (and of course be shot) within the limits of the United Kingdom, and we have never under- stood that on the most liberal interpretation of the ex- ression, “ British birds,” the number has exceeded four undred. How blind and inefficient have they been when they have omitted more than two-thirds of the species that occur here! It is really to be hoped that the writer of the leading article on English birds in last Thursday’s 7zmes will bring them to a due sense of their neglected duties by furnishing a list of the 800 species whose rights of citizenship have been so shamefully ignored, and if he will at the same time say in which edition of Mr. Morris’s work “more than twelve hundred” British birds are described, he will possibly contribute to a more comfortable understanding of the matter, for Mr. Morris has hitherto been supposed to follow very closely the late Mr. Yarrell in the information he gives, so. that when the latter in his last edition included 354 species, the former a few years later made the number 358 ! There are many other assertions in the same article which excite a degree of amazement inferior only to the last particularised, and we have heard persons suggest that the writer must have been all the while perpetrating a solemn joke, EDISON’S ELECTRIC LIGHT HE Zimes New York correspondent gives some interesting details in Monday’s paper of Mr. Edison’s new form of electric lighting and the steps by which he was led to its discovery. So far the light has withstood every test that has been tried, and so confident do the public seem that success has been attained at last, that the shares of the Edison Company have risen from 20 dollars to 3,500 dollars. The Philadelphia correspondent of the same journal gives some further information in yesterday’s issue. _Probably 200 people make up the population of Menlo Park, we are told, nearly all Edison’s workmen and their families. He gets an income of 40,000 dollars to 50,000 dollars a year from his various inventions, and he spends it all, the most of it for machinery and wages, and the balance in charity, The correspondent then gives some interesting details concerning Mr. Edison, his habits, his enthusiasm, and his relations with his numerous employés. There is no discipline enforced or any apparent time-table for work, yet with all hands it seems a labour of love, and if you pick out from the crowd the grimiest and most woe-begone.of the whole party of overworked alchemists it will be Edison him- self. It appears to have been the system at Menlo Park, as with the alchemists of old, to do most of the work at . night, and it seems the regular habit of Edison and his chief subordinates to work straight through the twenty-four hours without stopping, until tired nature compels them to drop down in any handy place and go to sleep. “We went there,’ the correspondent writes, ‘‘ hoping that Edison had succeeded, but nevertheless sceptics, and we came away thorough believers. His lamps were burning when we arrived, and they burnt continuously until our departure, excepting from half-past four to half-past five P.M., when about an hour’s time was taken in putting in a new generator to do the work, which he had just finished and desired to try. During the daylight we could see the lamps burning, supplied by the first generator, and per- ceived that the little carbon loop or horseshoe giving the light remained intact. After dark, when the second generator went to work, we saw for three hours the lamps successfully burning as a complete substitute for gas for every purpose for which illumination was necessary at Menlo Park. The gas jets were idle, being put out of use by the steadier and more genial glow of the electric light. We ate our supper by it in the little restaurant that has been established at the Park, and I sat down in Edison's office under two of his lamps attached to a gas bracket and wrote the rough draft of the telegram sent to the 77s. In this room a telegraph operator worked in a corner with an Edison lamp in a movable table stand illuminating his work. Down stairs his bookkeeper was paying off the hands by the aid of two more electric lights on a gas bracket. Out in the roadway in front of the building two street lamps were set up with the Edison light in full operation. In his workshop the engineer was running his engine and a couple of men watching the operation of the new generator by the light of more Edison’s lamps, while in the laboratory some fifteen of them were giving light for various operations, and downstairs a young man sat at the regulator, and, watching another light, by the aid of the galvanometer, kept the flame steady, just as the regulator is worked constantly in the gas-house to adjust the gas pressure, so that it will compensate for turning lights on or off throughout the town. It was between seven and eight o’clock on a dark winter evening, and the electric light had put into disuse both the gas jets and the petroleum lamps that were in profusion around. I visited four dwellings in the village and saw the Edison lamps doing the work of illumination for all household purposes in each of them. In Edison’s own house, where he had at least a dozen of them, we remained over half an hour, and I shall never forget the glee with which Edison listened to the reading of a newspaper slip, wherein an ambitious ‘expert’ offered to forfeit 100 dollars for every lamp that Edison could keep burning over twenty minutes.” — NOTES On Friday, the gth inst., the St. Andrew’s University Court agreed to report to the Queen in Council in favour of an appli- cation by Prof. Swan to be permitted to retire, on the usual retiring allowance, from his Chair of Natural and Experimental Philosophy in the University, on the ground of failing health. Mr, E. W. Cooke, R.A., F.R.S., whose death at the age of sixty-nine years, took place at’ Groombridge on the 4th inst., deserves some notice in these pages for his connection in various ways with science. From his boyhood he had the keenest interest in natural history, and was probably one of the first amateur horticulturists. He was connected with most of our scientific societies, and was an early member and constant 262 attendant at the meetings of the British Association. His first artistic work was botanical, the drawing of many hundred of the illustrations to London’s ‘‘ Encyclopedia of Plants,” all drawn from living specimens. The professional work of Mr. Cooke as an artist was throughout an advancement of science through a channel which we have often had occasion to point out, is generally too independent of the claims of science, and suffers accordingly. Mr. Cooke’s representations of natural objects, of plants and animals and rocks, were always scientifically accurate, and his coast scenes are in themselves a geological study, He was always ready to help other artists whose ignorance of natural science was apt to lead them into Indicrous blunders, He was, we believe, one of the first who ever attempted to grow ferns and tropical plants under conditions similar to those under which they are found in nature. Both at Kensington and at Tunbridge Wells his fernery and tropical garden were masterpieces in their way. For his eminence as 2 horticulturist and for his contribu- tions to geological science by his series of pictures and drawings illustrating the principal geological features of the British Islands, Mr. Cooke was, in 1863, elected a Fellow of the Royal Society. His series of drawings of ‘‘Grotesque Animals,” published a few years ago, afford a remarkable example of his intimate knowledge of comparative anatomy, as well as of his sense of humour. Mr. Cooke counted among his friends nearly all the leading men both in science and art, Mr. WILLIAM ALEXANDER ForsEs, B.A., F.Z.S., Scholar of St. John’s College, Cambridge, has been appointed by the Council Prosector to the Zoological Society of London in succes- sion to the late Prof. Garrod. Mr. Forbes, who is already well known for his contributions to scientific literature, obtained a first-class in the Natural Sciences Tripos at the late examination at Cambridge, and was designated as specially distinguished in the sciences of comparative anatomy and zoology, WE understand that, at the suggestion of several practical teachers of botany, a new piece of ground at the Royal Gardens, Kew, will, during the ensuing season, be set apart for the study of botany, and that students will, under certain regulations, be abie to carry home specimens for examination, Papers recently read at the Chemical Society by Mr. Church on the respiration and transpiration of albino foliage, and at the Linnean Society by Mr. Marshall Ward on the embryology of phanerogams, were in both cases founded on observations made in the laboratory. THE Yournal of Botany announces the death, at the early age of twenty-eight, of one of the most promising of the younger generation of physiological botanists, Dr. H. Bauke, of Berlin. His researches on cryptogams, and especially on the phenomenon of bilateralness in the prothallia of ferns, gave promise of a brilliant future. THE Fourth Annual Report of the Johns Hopkins University contains much that is of great interest. It gives a sketch of the foundation and plan of instruction of the University, showing how the latter has been based on the best ideas as to what ought to be the functions of a university. The system of fellowships at the Johns Hopkins institution is one calculated to encourage and call forth the best energies of the Fellows, and in the short career of the University the success of these fellowships has been fully shown. The University has the use of the magnifi- cent library of the Peabody Institute of Baltimore, and in its own yarious laboratories much good work is being done. The University has contrived happily to combine teaching and re- search in such a way as to give students real help and yet leave the teachers ample time to carry on original work, The Ameri- can Fournal of Mathematics and the American Fournal of Che- mistry both emanate from this Institution, while special publi- cations contain the results of biological work, and a long list of papers in various departments by members of the University is NATURE [Fan. 15, 1880 appended to the Report. We have also a long list of apparatus for scientific researches involving accurate measurements in the physical laboratory, and of some of the most important appara- tus in the biological laboratory. Altogether from this Report it will be seen that the Johns Hopkins University is doing its best to carry out the noble purpose of its founder. From the Twelfth Annual Report of the Peabody Institute of Baltimore, we see that the magnificent new buildings are now complete and occupied. It now forms one of the best equipped centres of culture in the United States. In the Bulletin of the Paris Anthropological Society (tome ii. fasc. 3) M. J. Geoffroy gives a résumé of his great work on the knowledge and denominations of colour, in which he attempts to controvert the views of Magnus and Geiger, and those of Mr. Gladstone, which ascribe colour-blindness to Homer, On the grounds taken by these writers he insists that we should be equally justified in asserting that Corneille, La Fontaine, and others who happen not to mention in their works any one special colour, must have been blind te it ; he considers that the delight taken by savages in bright colours is a sufficient proof that the sense of colour is not due to culture. In the same number M. de Jouvencel draws attention to the curious circumstances that the Latin races by preference take the right side, where the Teutonic races, including our own, and that of Scandinavians, take the left. With regard to the former, he finds a sufficient explanation in the superstition of the Romans, who deemed all omens favourable which manifested themselves on their right side, and zce verséd ; while the barbarian enemies of Rome may be assumed to have regarded as favourable to themselves whatever the Romans accepted as of evil portent. The Saxon races as masters of the sea and pioneers in the laying of railways, have imposed their own rules of the left side on the French and other Latin nations, who, however, still in driving, riding, &c., keep to the practice of their progenitors. M. ZABOROWSKI recently communicated to the Paris Anthropo- logical Society his discovery, on the banks of the Lower Vistula, of certain sepulchral vessels of a kind never before described. At the depth of 50-80 centimetres below the surface he found cinerary urns filled with bones, in the midst of which were various objects in bronze, iron, and bone, and over each urn there was a cover, like an inverted bell, resting in some cases on a kind of stand, or plateau. He proposes to give to these singular ums the name of /ombeaux sous cloches ; of which outline drawings with full description of their form and size are given at pp. 337-8 of the Bulletin (t. ii, fasc. 3). THE North American Entomologist for August, 1879, contains a paper by Mr. A. R. Grote ‘‘On the Neuration in_certain Genera of Pyralide,” illustrated by a plate with outline figures of the neural characters of fourteen genera, which should prove of great service to students of Lepidoptera. Mr. T. R. ARCHER Briccs, of Plymouth, announces the early publication of a Flora of Plymouth, including the Flowering Plants and Ferns growing within a distance of about twelve miles from the town, The almost unrivalled critical knowledge of oar native plants possessed by Mr. Briggs will render this a valuable contribution to geographical botany. Messrs. D, M’ALPINE and A. N. M’Alpine announce the publication of a Biological Atlas, being a guide to the practical study of plants and animals, illustrating the characters of typical forms by drawings of the object, dissections, microscopic pre- parations, and diagrams, with explanatory text, specially designed | for the London University, Science and Art, Medical, and other examinations, and for use in schools and colleges. The Atlas will consist of 24 plates, containing 423 coloured figures and -— oe LS ee ee —? I ——— ee Ee | =@ ‘diagrams, and is to be published by Messrs. W. and A. K. Joknston. Tue Gottingen Royal Society of Sciences offers a prize of 50 ducats for the best treatment, by new researches, of the question as to the processes of development of the adult echino- derm. In addition to what is known of the embryonal develop- ment of echinoderms, it must specially be shown how the ‘animal grows from the larva form to the completed system of ‘organs, It is open to competitors either to examine a charac- teristic kind of development-process in all its features, or by exhibiting the development of different forms, to establish a common behaviour for the whole; in the latter case, the chief agreements and divergences in the formation of the organic system in different forms of echinoderms must be indicated from their earliest occurrence. The Society re-propose their question as to the nature of the wnfolarised light-ray, researches being desired which will bring conceptions as to natural light of any source, near, in definiteness, to those which theory associates with polarised light. Papers on these subjects have to be sent in before the end of September in 1881 and 1882 respectively. Tue Reale Istituto Lombardo offers prizes of various value in connection with the following among other subjects :—The climatology of Italy ; Critical history of the telephone ; Gnology, especially in ancient Italy ; The nature of miasma and contagion ; Motor centres of the cerebral cortex ; Etiology of cretinism and idiocy; Demonstration by experiments, :whether the generative matter of hydrophobia is a virulent principle or an organic germ ; Elucidation of some facts of the macro- or microscopical anatomy of the human brain. Particulars with reference to these will be found in the Renatcon!i of the Institute (vol. xii. fasc. xvii.—xviii.). A GERMAN translation of Schiaparelli’s work on the planet Mars has just been published by Herr Georgi, of Leipzig. Mr. SHRUBSOLE asks us to say that he will exhibit speci- mens of the diatoms he states he has found in the London Clay at the annual meeting of the Geologists’ Asscciation on February 6. A SEVERE earthquake was felt at Coire, in the Grisons, early on the morning of the 7th inst. DwuRinc these last twenty years numerous complaints have been published or sent to the public authorities with regard to the organisation of the observatory of Algiers. This unhappy state of things has now come to an end. This establishment has been placed under the authority of the rector of the Academy, and a lectureshipin astronomy has been created. The same decree has organised the several preparatory schools recently created by law. An Oriental Section has been organised, and the lectureship for Arabic existing in Algiers, Oran, and Con- stantine have been connected with it. Chairs for Mussulman Law, African Geography, African Antiquities or History, have been created by the same decree. M. Pomel, one of the Senators for the Algerian provinces, has been appointed director of the School of Sciences and Professor of Mineralogy in the same schools. He will be obliged to resiga his senatorship, Mr. C. LLoyp MorGAn, Associate of the Royal School of Mines, F.G.S., Lecturer on Science and English Literature at the Diocesan College, Rondebosch, Cape Town, has been appointed Examiner in Natural Science at the Cape Town University. WE have received the first number of the Angler’s Note-Book and Naturalists Record, a repertory of fact, inquiry, and dis- cussion on field sports and subjects of natural history. It is a neat small quarto, and might serve a very useful purpose ; the NALUKE 263 first number, however, contains far too many extracts from othe journals, many of them years old. ‘The publishers are Satchell and Co, Tue New York Herald articles and telegrams relating to the new Edison light have created much sensation in Paris, and caused a fall of 3/. in the shares of the Compagnie d’Eclairage et de Chauffage parle Gas. It is said that the judicial authorities are engaged in an inquiry directed against the Figaro, which published the news with aggravating embellishments. M. Ferry has taken an important resolution obliging students to make use of the magnificent opportunities afforded by the Jardin des Plantes. The professors of botany and natural history of the schools of medicine and pharmacy have been authorised to deliver their lectures in the amphitheatre of that establishment, A special commission has been created consisting of these professors and the professors of the museum. A new chair has been instituted of vegetable physiology, and M. Dehairain has been appointed professor, M, Dehairain has edited during a series of years the Annuaire du Progrés des Sciences, written by himself and a large staff of contributors selected from among the most popular scientific writers. THE new number of the Proceedings of the Berwickshire Naturalis:’s Field Club is as varied and interesting as usual, with papers on the natural history, antiquities, folk-lore, and local history of the Border. THE new volume of the “‘ Year Book of Facts in Science and the Arts” (Ward, Lock, and Co.) is no improvement on its pre- decessor; it is solely the work of unintelligent scissors and paste, and no more represents the science of the year than a few clippings from a third-rate illustrated journal would do the art. Dr. SCHOMBURGK, the director of the Botanic Garden, Ade- laide, has issued a little pamphlet ‘‘On the Naturalised Weeds and other plants in South Australia.” As this writer truly says, “From the past and present constant intercourse with Europe and other parts of the world, and the abundant importation of seeds into Australia for agricultural and horticultural purposes, itis no wonder that a very great number of the weeds most troublesome at home are now naturalised in South Australia.” It is shown that a point of interest might occur whether the altered circumstances which now seem to be so favourable to the growth of the acclimatised weeds will prove permanent, or, by a change effected by over-stimulation, whether degeneracy and subsequent extinction might not follow. Such an effect, how- ever, is not yet observable, the growth being quite as luxuriant as they were eighteen to twenty-five years since. The list con- tains the names of many of our best, or worst, known weeds, some of which have so firmly established themselves that it is almost impossible to eradicate them. Thus the extension of Onopordium acanthium was so rapid that the Legislature passed an Act in 1862 for preventing the further spread of this plant as well as those of Carduus marianus, and Xanthium spinosum. ‘‘ According to the Act every owner or occupier .of land upon which, or upon the adjacent half of any road, the above-mentioned thistles are growing, is obliged in twenty-one days after notice, signed by any chairman of a Road Board or District Council, has been served upon such owner, to destroy the thistles on his land; otherwise he is liable to a penalty not exceeding ten pounds. The Government must, on all unoccupied Crown lands, employ the necessary labour to eradicate the thistles. This stringent measure it is true has decimated the plants, but without effecting the object desired. Although thousands of pounds have been spent for the purpose, the destruction of thistles is generally commenced too late to prevent the dispersion of the developed seed.” The pamphlet, though composed of only thirteen pages, appears to have been hurried through the press, 264 NATURE for numerous mistakes occur in the spelling both of the common as well as of the scientific names; thus we have Spury for Spurry, Cormwell for Gromwell, Torn-apple for Thorn-apple, Hordeum murianum for H. murinum, Anthoxanthum oderatum for A. odoratum, &c. In four bone-caves of Upper Franconia different proportions of mammalian remains are met with (‘‘Some Franconian Cave Faunas,” by A. Nehring, in Report of Proceed. of the Imperial Geolog. Instit, Vienna, August 31, 1879). The bones of the older layers are darker in colour, and belong to the collared lemming and other decidedly arctic species. Bats are absent. This fauna probably existed at the end of the glacial period, when there were as yet few forests, or none, in the surrounding region. The bones belonging to a later period are lighter in colour, and indicate a post-glacial forest-fauna, mingled with a few arctic species. Bats requiring a temperate climate are abundant. These more delicate remains may have been brought to the caves by owls. This later cave-fauna of Upper Franconia agrees with that of Balve in Westphalia. IN the United States a series of experiments has been made by the Ordnance Department in the use of the telephone to assist in determining the time of flight of small-arm projectiles, which has hitherto been a matter of great difficulty at long ranges, owing to the impossibility of seeing them strike. One telephone was placed within afew feet of the gun, and the other (both being provided with Blake’s transmitters) in the shelter, about thirty feet in front of the target. The telephone being placed to the ear, a stop-watch, beating fourths of a second, was started at the moment of firing, and stopped on the bullet striking. The observations founded on a large number of experiments never differed more than a quarter or half of a second from each other, the slight delay in starting the watch being neutralised by the delay in stopping it. It was found that the time of transit was affected by the wind, being shortened by.a rear and lengthened by a head wind. From the Canaries we continue to receive the Revis/a de Canarias, which we are pleased to see has reached its twenty- third number, and still continues to devote a fair amount of its space to science, A SECOND edition of Mr. W. H. Penning’s ‘‘ Text-Book of Field Geology” has been published by Bailliére, Tindall, and Cox, with several additions and improvements, Tr is stated that a seam of exceedingly good coal has been opened up on the Irwin River in Western Australia, Its exist- ence appears to have been known, though no attempt had been previously made to work it. M. CocHeEry, Minister of Postal Telegraphy, has asked from the French Parliament a credit of 320,000/. for establishing a subterranean telegraphic communication between .the principal French cities and Paris. This resolution has been taken in con- sequence of the number of interruptions experienced in the aérial service during the present winter, For days the communi- cation with Marseilles was conducted by a single line, THE number of the Zransactions of the Asiatic Society of Japan which has just come to hand, contains several papers of interest from different points of view. Among these may be mentioned ‘* Analyses of Surface Waters in Tokiyo [Yedo]” by Mr. R. W. Atkinson ; ‘‘ The Chemical Industries of Japan,” by the same; ‘A History of Japanese Art,” by W. Anderson; and notes by the Rey, J. Summers on Osaka, usually known to the outer world as the commercial capital of Japan, THE additions to the Zoological Society’s Gardens during the past week include a Brown Bear (U7sus arctos), three — Snakes (Zyopidonotus tigrinus) from Japa», presented by Messrs. James Veitch and Sons and Mr. Chas, Maries; an Arabian Gazelle (Gazella arabica) from Arabia, presented by Mics M. Murray; two Corean Pigs (Sus sf. ine.) from the Island of Quelpart, Corea, presented by Dr. Sydney Ringer; a Japanese Hawk Eagle (Spizattus orientalis) from Japan, presented by Mr. Harry Pryor, C.M.Z.S.; two Common Gulls (Zavus canus), British, presented by Mr. George Weaver; a Robben Island Snake (Coronella phocarum), four Rufescent Snakes (Lepiodire vufescens) from South Africa, presented by the Rev. G. H. R. Fisk, C.M.Z.S.; a Rhomb-marked Snake (Psammophylax rombeatus) from South Africa, presented by Mr. Eustace Pillans; three Qyster-catchers (Hamatopus ostralegus), three Brant Geese (Bernicla brenta), British, purchased; a Yellow Conure (Conurus solstilialis) from Guiana, received in exchange. OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN WINNECKE’s CoMET.—The only known comet of short period due at perihelion within the present year is that discovered by Winnecke in March, 1858, which was soon found to be identical with the third comet of 1819, detected by Pons at Marseilles on June 12, having completed seven revolutions in the interval. Encke had shown that the observations in 1819, extending over thirty-six days, were best represented by an ellipse, with a period of 2052 days, or 5°618 years, but it is not upon record, so far as we know, that any serious attempt was made to recover the comet when with Encke’s period it might be expected to be near perihelion, and thus it remained for Winnecke to find it again after a lapse of nearly forty years. The perturbations by Jupiter and Saturn during this period have been calculated by Clausen, with the view to fix the precise value of the mean motion at the perihelion passage in 1858. Another revolution would be completed in November, 1863, but the comet’s track in the heavens under that condition is so unfavourable, that no obserya- tions were secured. At the next return in 1868, however, it was well observed, and again in 1875. The calculations for this comet are understood to be in the hands of Oppilzer, of Vienna. With his elements for 1875, the next perihelion passage, without having regard to perturbations which must be small in the present revolution, would fall at the beginning of December next, in which case, the comet’s apparent track must be again an unfavourable one; indeed it seems questionable if it will be possible to obtain observations. The most likely time will perhaps be late in January, but the intensity of light will then be very small, Oppélzer has suggested that the comet imperfectly observed by Pons in February, 1808, in the constellation Ophiuchus, may have been identical with Winnecke’s, if it were in perihelion on or about April 12. The following particulars relating to the comet of 1808 appear to have been obtained from Pons’s papers, and were communicated to Schumacher by Mghirhami :—‘*‘ La cométe du 6 fevrier 1808, est une des cométes qui ont echappé aux astronomes sans pouvoir en calculer les elemens 4 cause que l'on n’en a pu avoir que quelques positions trés-douteuses par meéprise avec d’autres nébuleuses, Elle était trés faible et diffi- cile A voir. La nébulosité était ronde, elle s'étendait 4 peu pres un dégré et on y soupconnait par intervalle un trés faible noyau en deux parties. Son mouvement était assez rapide vers le sud et l’on n’a pu l’apercevoir que 3 jours parceque la clair de June était trés-fort, de sorte que malgré de recherches trés-opiniatres, on ne pouvait pas méme la soupconner le 10,” There is then given a ‘* Configuration renver:ée du 3 fevrier vers les 5h. du matin dans Je grand chercheur qui & peu prés a 3 dégrés de champ ;” and it is added : ‘* Lesdeux nébuleuses marquees dans la figure sont sur le ventre d’Ophiuchus un peu au-dessous de YEquateur.” Oppélzer identifies the nebula as Nos. 9 and 10 of Messier, In Zach’s Cosrespondens the comet is called a very small one, and nothing is said as to its rapid motion, It is evident that if the statement forwarded to Schumacher is the correct one, the comet moving quickly and with an apparent diameter of nearly a degree must have been in near proximity to the earth, Winnecke’s comet in perihelion, on April 12, would have had about the following positions :— h. eth ar : Feb. 5 at 16 ... R.A, 237 56 Decl. -7 © ... Dist, 1°04 39 OBE TY sPey ign: eNO ene 9s) 47, ok ee So that the motion, though southerly, would be but small. The identity of the comet of 1808 with Winnecke’s comet is there- fore at least doubtful. ; (Han. 15, 1880 ——————————————— SU =@m&oGX€- lle eee ; ~~ ee _ In 1833 Clausen made what appears a more likely suggestion, that the comet of July, 1819, was identical with the second comet of 1766, which was observed for a short time only by Messier at Paris, before perihelion passage, and after perihe- lion by La Nux in the Isle of Bourbon, though but roughly. “Burckhardt found, in 1817, that the whole of the observations could be represented within their probable limits of error by an ellipse with a period of revolution little over five years. The planet Jupiter must have acted powerfully upon Winnecke’s comet towards the end of the last century, and, so far as we can see, it appears possible that the perturbations occasioned at that time may account for the differences in the orbits of 1766 and 1819. If Burckhardt’s elements for the comet of 1766 are approximately correct, as seems probable, it may have been detected at its first visit to perihelion in the actual form of orbit, perhaps at its first visit after being fixed in the system through the agency of Jupiter. We know that Brorsen’s comet of short period was discovered under similar conditions. ———— eee METEOROLOGICAL NOTES S1x years ago we remarked (NATURE, vol. ix. p, 164) that what was required in order to describe and classify many forms of clouds, were accurate delineations of these forms in their different aspects, and systematic inquiries as to the relations of clouds to the mode of their formation, to the states of the aqueous vapour composing them, and to the varying elasticity, temperature, and electricity of the atmosphere. Since then but slow progress has been made, the great desideratum being the contribution of data in a form on which science can Jay its hands. A contribution of data of this sort has just been made by Dr. Hildebrandsson, the director of the meteorological ob- servatory of Upsala, ina memoir on the “ Classification of Clouds employed at the Observatory,” illustrated with sixteen photographs of clouds. The photographs, which are about nine by seven inches, are very fine ones, and well chosen out of a large num- ber taken under the direction of Dr. Hildebrandsson, to illus- trate the different forms of cloud and their more important modifications and transitional states. The series representing the more marked changes from the delicately-pencilled cirri of the flimsiest texture to the nimbus of a rain-cloud is a most instructive one ; as is also the series showing the strato-cumulus as commonly observed during the winter season in Scandinavia. The relations of the varying forms of clouds to cyclones and anticyclones which pass over Sweden is just touched on, but this important phase of the inquiry we hope Dr. Hildebrandsson will in return to, seeing he can so readily refer to the observa- tions of his observatory, which give so complete and satisfactory arecord of the various fugitive phenomena of the weather changes of that part of Sweden. Dr. Hildebrandsson’s photo- graphs of clouds may be studied with equal interest and pro- fessional advantage by artists as well as by meteorologists, it being scarcely possible to point to any department of art standing more in need of a thorough reformation than the cloudscapes of our landscape painters, THE Hydrographic Committee of the French Marine has at a recent sitting sanctioned the publication of the last four of the series of sixteen wind-charts prepared by M. L. Brault. In these four charts the winds of the Pacific are dealt with, the winds of the North Atlantic, the South Atlantic, and the Indian Ocean being discussed in the twelve charts previously prepared. In preparing these sixteen charts M. Brault has made use of upwards of 3,000,000 observations made over the oceans and continents of the globe. The chief results referring to the circulation of the atmosphere show as regards the South Pacific, which presents the largest expanse of ocean least influenced by land, a belt of calm or light winds near the equator; then the well-known south trades; to these succeeds a belt of winds variable as regards direction, but blowing witha force at least as great as the trades; and lastly, westerly winds, varying little, though more than the trades, in direction, and incurving upon the South Pole the nearer they approach it, and blowing much stronger than the trades and variables, As regards the other oceans, the disturbing influence of the land is felt in pro- portion to the extent of the continents which surround them, the disturbing influence reaching its maximum in August and January, in other words in those months when atmospheric pressure of the continents is in greatest excess or defect compared wee that of the ocean as shown by the isobaric charts of the globe. NATURE 265 M. L. TetssErenc’ DE Bort has prepared isabnormal charts of the temperature and pressure of the atmosphere, with the view of comparing, with some exactness, these two all- important factors of atmospheric circulation. He finds that when any region presents an excess of temperature, either abso- lute or relative to that of places in the same latitudes, a baro- metric minimum tends to be formed, and that the coincidence between the minimum of pressure and the maximum of tempera- ture is almost complete. The tendency results in either a well- defined area of low pressure, or in the less pronounced form of a simple distortion of the isobaric lines as they cross the region of relatively high temperature. On the other hand, barometric maxima tend to establish themselves over regions whose tempera- ture is either absolutely high or relatively so to the latitude, and the tendency to an increased pressure is the more decided when the reyion in question is surrounded by regions of low pressure. AT a meeting of the Botanical Society of Edinburgh, held on Thursday, the 8th inst., Sir Robert Christison read a paper of very considerable importance on the relative growth of the trunks of trees during 1879 as compared with 1878. Upwards of two years ago Sir Robert set on foot a system of measure- ment of the girths of a large number of well-grown trees in Edinburgh and neighbourhood, the measuremients being made by himself with the same measuring-line, and the same circum- ference to be measured secured by marking it at the time of the first measurement with paint. The inclement character of the summer months of 1879 as compared with 1878 was described by a reference to the daily maximum temperatures noted at the Edinburgh station of the Scottish Meteorological Society, from which it appeared that for the six months ending with Sep- tember the mean for 1879 was fully 5°°o less than fur 1878, and the deficiency of day temperature amounting to nearly 10° Of II deciduous trees, exclusive of oaks, the deficiency of growth during 1879 as compared with 1878 was 41 per cent. ; of 17 evergreens of the pine tribe, the deficiency was 20 per cent. ; and of 7 oaks the deficiency was 10 per cent. The 7 oaks were of different species, but they all gave results closely agreeing with each other. We shall look forward with the greatest interest to the annual reports of this investigation, which may be expected to reveal novel and valuable results illustrative of the bearings of meteorology on the growth of our forest trees. AN interesting account of waterspouts observed on November 10, 1879, off Cape Spada, west of Canea, by Herr Miksche, has been communicated by him to the Vienna Academy, About 9 A.M. some heavy thunder-clouds rose in the west in a clear sky, reaching the zenith only after noon. One in advance, very black, and low-hanging, gave, about ten minutes to one o’clock, the phenomenon of the waterspout, a thick descending column, of milk-white appearance, being formed from it. The amount of downward gyrating force may be approximately estimated from the fact that at the distance of some eighteen miles one could distinctly see with the naked eye, a high round pedestal, formed by the foaming sea-water, like the socle of a monu- ment, After ten minutes’ duration, the column lost its conical form and began to assume a rectangular one; while, at the extreme eastern point of the cloud, a second waterspout was formed, conical in shape and of the same hue and intensity as the first. To this column also the sea presented a pedestal visible to the eye. For fully five minutes the water discharge continued with like intensity in both trombes. Precisely at five minutes after I P.M., #.¢., about a quarter of an hour after formation of the firs: trombe, an angular discharge of lightning (without audible thunder) took place from the clouds at that part into the sea ; then the trombe suddenly ceased, only the pedestal continuing some time to show where it had been. The second trombe remained unaffected five minutes longer, then was ex- tinguished without lightning discharge, and without reverting to the original conical form (as the first did). This fine display of natural forces was quite finished at 1.16 P.M., the clouds then uniting and pursuing their course eastwards. oe —— GEOGRAPHICAL NOTES Ar the meeting of the Geographical Society on Monday last, a letter was read from Mr. Thomson which had that day been received vié Mozambique, announcing the arrival of the East African expedition at Mbungo, at the north end of Lake Nyassa, on September 22, Mr. Thomson was uaable to discover the Uranga country and river, described by the late Capt. Elton as lying near Merere’s town, but he believes the river to be the 266 Mbangala, which flows into the Ruaha. According to Mr. Thomson, the formidable range, called the Konde mountains, is simply the termination of a plateau which rises from an altitude of 3,500 feet in 8° 50’ S. lat. to not more than 9,000 feet at the lake. Mr, Thomson was to leave for Lake Tanganyika on September 28, and we may fairly hope that by now he has completed his explorations, and is on his way back to the coast. The papers of the evening were ‘‘ The Grand Canal and Yellow River of China,” and ‘‘ Hankow to Canton overland,” by Mr. G. J. Morrison. During the journey referred to in the former, Mr. Morrison was enabled to examine some 200 miles of the Yellow River, a portion of which has materially altered since it was described by any traveller, and his observations are, there- fore, very useful. Mr. Morrison, it may be noted, is of opinion that the Yellow River is now flowing in its natural channel, and that in former times it discharged its waters into the sea north of the Shantung promontory. His description of the condition of the Grand Canal is also interesting, as he looks at it from the point of view of a practical engineer. The other paper, from which only extracts were read, described a journey undertaken with the object of getting some idea of the country through which one of the great railway lines of the future may be expected to run, and a portion of which embraced the rich mineral field of Southern Hunan examined by Baron Richthofen a few years ago. AN interesting piece of exploration has just been successfully accomplished by the Church Missionary Society’s agents in Western Africa. In a small steamer they have ascended the River Binue from its confluence with the Niger to a point probably about 800 miles from the sea, The party penetrated 150 miles beyond Hamaruwa, which was reached by Dr. Baikie when in search of Dr. Barth in 1854, and a careful survey of the river has been executed. M. Pérriment (Bulletin of Paris Anthropological Society, t. ii. fase. 3), in confirmation of M. Madaillac’s assertion that a blonde race existed in Persia, had engaged a Persian doctor, Mirza Mohammed, some time resident in Paris, to obtain definite information on this point. According to this gentleman there are about 2 per cent. of blonde persons in the Persian popula- tion, blonde children appearing in brunette families after the lapse of a generation or two. According to local tradition, the white men came from the north, and were sheifdms, or demons ; this evil character is still attached to blonde individuals in Persia, where they are generally impetuous and artful, and seldom possessed of a lymphatic temperament. M. DE UJFALVy, in his recent travels through the Russian territories of Central Asia, has visited the lands of the Galtchas, Sarts, and Tadjiks, where he found that caste and patriarchal authority were rigidly observed. The people are Mussulmans, and consequently polygamists, and the women are held in great subjection. The Galtchas in their nomadic wanderings ascend the mountain-slopes of Kohistan in search of pasture, To the east of their country we would seem, although close to the plains of Pamir, to be on the extreme limits of the Aryan race, for here in the Kuldja district the oblique-eyed Mongolians begin to predominate. At this point, where the Mountains of Heaven form a line of division, the white and yellow races meet, and even overlap one another to some extent, although the strict observance of caste has hitherto prevented their com- plete fusion, and has left the Aryan races to form isolated ethnic groups in the midst of an otherwise Mongolian population. M. de Ujfalvy is at present engaged in completing the narrative of his travels in this part of Central Asia, and his observations on the distinct characters of the Galtchas and other kindred races can scarcely fail to afford valuable aid in the solution of the vexed question of the limits of demarcation between the Mon- golian and Aryan races. In No, 83 of the Zeitschrift of the Berlin Geographical Society Dr. Hildebrandt concludes the narrative of his journey from Mombassa to Kitue, and this is followed by some remarks on his measurements of heights in the Wakamba land. proceeded, I am disposed to believe that the motion in any plane chemical figure is not along the radius, but at right angles to the radius ; and this sup- position will, if verified, explain the repulsion. The existing results afford proof of the following propositions, viz. :— (1) Chemical action can take place at a distance ; and (2) Two or more chemical actions, identical except in position, completely exclude one another. Chemical Society, January 15.—Mr. Warren De La Rue, president, in the chair.—The following papers were read :—On the effects of the growth of plants on the amount of matter removed from the soil by rain, by Dr. J. H. Prevost. Soil 3 inches deep was placed in two glazed earthenware pans 17 inches in diameter on July 21 ; 4 grm. of white clover seed was sown in one, the other being blank. The pans were exposed till October 4. The drainage-water was collected and analysed ; that from the clover soil contained 48*1 grains of solid matter per gallon, the other 220. The author concludes that rain removes much more matter from an uncropped than from a cropped soil.—Mr. Wynter Blyth described a simple apparatus for the treatment of substances in open dishes to volatile solvents. The dish is placed inside a cast-iron pan, and covered with a glass bell-jar, with condenser attached, the joint between the bottom of the pan and the bell-jar being made tight with a ———————— —- NATURE 291 -mercury.—On dibromanthraquinones, by Mr. W. H. Perkin. By i omine with anthraquinone, a dibromanthraquinone is avg melting at 245°C. ; by boiling tetrabromanthracen with chromic acid, dissolved in’a large excess of glacial acetic acid, an isomer § dibromanthraquinone is obtained, melting at 275° C. By the action of caustic alkalies on these bodies, alizarin is formed in both cases. The author discusses the formation of this substance. In the case of the a body, two other colouring matters were formed with the alizarin, one dyeing mordants, the other not. The author is investigating these bodies. He appends a note in which he concludes on further examination that Auerbach’s isopurpurin is a mixture of flavopurpurin and anthrapurpurin, and is not identical with anthrapurpurin.—Mr, Warington contributed some notes on some practical points connected with his laboratory experience. He has used with great convenience the indiarubber joint covered with mercury, which was proposed by Dr, Frankland as a substitute for the steel blocks connecting the laboratory and measuring tubes. At first the indiarubber wore out rapidly ; this was prevented by tying it above the conical stopper as well as below He re commends the coating of laboratory benches, &c., by heating the wood and then rubbing in paraffin ; the wood is thus protected from the action of acids, Inthe determination of nitrates by Frankland’s process, the author suggests the addition of a drop of dilute hydrochloric acid, to ensure a complete reaction between the mercury and the nitric acid. By means of a solution of diphenylamine in strong sulphuric acid, the author has detected by the blue coloration produced zy3ysth of a milligram of hydrogen as nitric acid.—On the melting and boiling points of certain inorganic substances, by T. Carnelly and W. C. Williams. Zoological Society, January 6.—Prof. Flower, F.R.S., president, in the chair.—Prof. Newton, M.A., F.R.S., V.P., exhibited, on behalf of Mr. G. B, Corbin, a specimen of Acan- thyllis (sive) Chetura caudacuta, the Needle-Tailed Swift, shot near Ringwood, in Hampshire, in July, 1879, remarking that it was the second example of this Siberian species which had been obtained in England.—Mr. John Henry Steel, F.Z.S., read a series of preliminary notes on the individual variations observed in the osteological and myological structure of the Domestic Ass (Zquus asinus),—A communication was read from Mr. E, W. White, C.M.Z.S., containing notes on the distribution and habits of Chlamyphorus truncatus, from observations made by the author during a recent excursion into the western provinces of the Argentine Republic, undertaken for the purpose of ob- taining a better knowledge of this animal.—Dr. John Mulvany, R.N., read a paper on a case which seemed to him to indicate the moulting of the horny beak in a Penguin of the genus Lndyptes.—Mr. O, Thomas, F.Z.S., read the description of a new species of AZus, obtained from the island of Ovalau, Fiji, by Baron A, von Hiigel, and proposed to be called Aus huegeli after its discoverer.—A communication was read from Mr. R. G. Wardlaw Ramsay, F.Z.S., containing a report on a collec- tion of birds made by Herr Bock, a naturalist employed by the late Lord Tweeddale, in the neighbourhood of Padang. Three species were described as new and proposed to be called Dicrurus sumatranus, Turdinus marmoratus, and Myiophoneus castaneus. —Dr. Giinther, F.R.S., read a description of two new species of Antelopes, of the genus WVeotragus, N. kirki, from Eastern Africa, and 4. molaris, from Damaraland. Geological Society, January 7.—Henry Clifton Sorby, president, in the chair.—Edward Bagnall Poulton was elected a Fellow, and Prof. A. E. Nordenskjéld, Stockholm, and Prof. F. Zirkel, Leipzig, Foreign Members of the Society. —The following communications were read :—On the Portland rocks of England, by the Rev. J. F. Blake, F.G.S. The author gave a general account of the relation of the several Portland rocks in the areas of their development to each other, and hence de- duced the history of the Portland “episode.” The name is used on the Continent in a wider sense than in England, and this use was shown to be unjustifiable. After giving an account of his observations on the rocks at Portland itself, and dividing the limestones into the building-stone and flinty series, the author showed that the so-called ‘‘ Upper Portlandian” of Boulogne corresponds to the latter, and the upper part of the ‘Middle os to the Portland sand. He then endeavoured to ve, by the proportionate thickness, the indications of change Pi the lithology, and the distribution of some of the fossils, that the rest of the so-called ‘ Middle” and the ‘“ Lower Port- r » are represented by integral portions of the Upper Kimmeridge, which are thus the “ normal” form corresponding to what the author calls the ‘ Boulognian episode.” The series in the Vale of Wardour has been made out pretty completely, The Purbeck is separated by a band of clay from the Portland, and is not amalgamated with it. The building-stones and flinty series are here seen again; and a fine freestone occurs at the base of the latter. The representatives of the Portland sand were considered to be older than those of other districts, The relations of the Purbeck to the Portland rocks at Swindon were very carefully traced; and it is shown that, while the upper beds ‘of the latter put on here some peculiar characters, the former lie on their worn edges. The upper beds of the Port- land, which have been referred to the sand, correspond to the freestone and the base of the flinty series of the Vale of War- dour ; hence the Purbecks of Swindon may be coeval with the upper beds of the Portland to the south, At the base of the great quarry and elsewhere in the neighbourhood are the ‘‘ Zrigonia- beds,” beneath which is clay, hitherto mistaken for the Kimmer- idge clay ; and beneath this are the true Portland sands, with an abundant fauna new to England, The limestones of Oxford- shire and Bucks were considere1 to represent the ‘‘ Zrigonia- beds” only; and, as the Purbecks here lie for the most part conformably, it was suggested that they were formed ina lake at an earlier period than those at Swindon, which are of a more fluviatile character. Hence the Portland episode, considered as marine, was at an end in the north before it was half completed in the south.—On the correlation of the drift-deposits of the north-west of England with those of the midland and eastern counties, by D. Mackintosh, F.G.S. Anthropological Institute, Jan. 13.—John Evans, D.C.L., F.R.S., vice-president, in the chair—Dr, Hack Tuke read a paper on ‘‘ The Cagots.” The author showed that the popular etymology of the word Cagot, from ‘‘ Canis Gothi,” is probably inaccurate, and accepted the suggestion of M. de Rochas, that Cagot is derived from the Celto-Breton word caced (leprous) ; it is easy to see how readily this would assume the form of cacou (as it is in Brittany actually applied to these people), and so the French Cagou or Cagot. The conclusions at which the author arrived as to the origin of the Cagots were as follows:—1. The Cagots are not the descendants of the Goths; they are not a distinct race, but a despised class among the people of the country in which they live. 2. They are not more subject to goitre or to cretinism than the inhabitants of the adjacent district —in short, cagotism and cretinism are in no way allied. 3. The present representatives of the Cagots are now recognised by tradi- tion, and not by their features, and are not distinguished by any peculiar mental or physical disorder. 4. Although nothing like leprosy, or leucoderma, has for a long time affected the Cagots, and no one on the spot regards them in this light, there is evidence to show that they were originally either lepers labouring under a particular variety of leprosy, or were affected with leu- coderma, the form of the affection accounting for their being regarded as in some respects different from ordinary lepers, though shunned in the same way. 5. Many were, no doubt, falsely suspected of leprosy in consequence of some slight skin affection ; others, again, in later centuries, were members of families in which the disease had died out.—The Director read two papers by Mr, Alfred Simson, on the Jivaros and the Canelos Indians, The tribe of the Jivaros is a large one, and one of the most distinguished, independent, and warlike in South America, They speak a language of their own, Jivaro, and occupy the country generally from the Upper Pastassa to the Santiago, both rivers included, down to the Pongo de Manseriche, on the Marafion. They are hospitable, and their houses are large and built of palms, They have a most perfect method of scalping, by which the victim’s head is reduced to the size of a moderately large orange, maintaining tolerably well all the features : the skins cut round the base of the neck, and the entire covering of the skull removed in one piece. This is then dried gradually b means of hot stones placed inside it, until the boneless head shrinks to the required size. They also wear their slain enemies’ hair in long plaits round the waist. Great festivities take place when a child, at three or four years of age, is initiated into the art and mysteries of smoking, The Jivaros of the Pintue have the habit of vomiting nearly every morning by the aid of a feather, arguing that all food remaining in the stomach overnight is un- wholesome and undigested, and should therefore be ejected. Canelos, the once attractive Spanish settlement, but now forlorn Indian village, is situated on the left bank of the Bobo- Naza, one of the most imnortant, if not the largest, of the 292 NATURE tributaries of the Upper Pastassa, and is inhabited by a mixed tribe of Indians in whom the chief element is Jivaro, though some of the better traits of these seem to be wanting in them. Their language is Quichua, Their fighting is done entirely with the lance, which is their inseparable companion, and all the author’s attempts to induce any of them to part with his weapon were fruitless. PARIS Academy of Sciences, January 12.—M. Edm, Becquerel in the chair.—M. Daubrée presented the second part of his Synthetic studies of experimental geology ; it treats chiefly of the chemical and mechanical phenomena of meteorites (which are compared with the deeper rocks).—On meteorological observa- tions in May at Zi-ka-wei, in China, by M. Faye. Storms go from China to Japan, following a like course to that of storms coming to Europe from the Atlantic. They are independent of the prevailing monsoon, and conversely, neither preventing the other. M. Faye finds support for the theory of gyratory move- ments propagated downwards.—On the kinematic geometry of deformations of bodies, elastic, plastic, or fluids, by M. De Saint Venant.—Some observations on a note of M, Wurtz (C. 2., December 22, 1879), by M. Sainte-Claire Deville.—Evolution of the inflorescence in Graminez (first part), by M. Trécul. He considers here (1) the formation of the primary axis; (2) the order of appearance of the branches ; (3) that of their growth.— Influence of the nature of carbons on the electric light, by M. Du Moncel. In 1855 he called attention to the advantages of using carbons of vegetable origin for the electric light. In 1859 he produced an electric candle with plates of charcoal ina tube.—On the disaccord apparent between the heights recently observed on the Seine and the previsions of the hydrometric service in the passage through Paris, by MM. Lalanne and Lemoine. M. Belgrand’s empirical laws apply only to the natural state of the river, but ceased to apply in the early days of January, owing to the effects of the abnormal freezing of the Seine (which occurs several times ina century). M. Dumas and Gen. Morin made some remarks, the General pointing out that the breaking up of the ice sometimes proceeds up the river, sometimes down ; in the latter and more dangerous case explosives and other means should be promptly used to open the block.—On the photographie spectra of stars, by Dr. Huggins,—State of the tunnelling operations of St. Gothard, by M. Colladon. The works have been retarded, From November 11 to January 1 (fifty-one days) the advance of the north gallery was only 34'90 m. against 173*10 m, in the forty-nine days previous. This was due to pressure of an unresistant rock met with, which crushed the strongest wood-work, The perforation will likely be complete in the end of February or beginning of March.—On treatment of phylloxerised vines, by M. Marés.—On glyco- genesis in infusoria, by M. Certes. Treated with iodised serum, they present similar effects to those whereby M. Ranvier, with this substance, proved the presence of glycogen in lymphatic cells, (The effects on several organisms found with infusoria are also indicated.) The vitality of animalcules is an important factor in glycogenesis.—Resistance of pucerons to severe cold, by M. Lichtenstein. Phylloxera and others successfully resisted cold of 11° and 12° below zero in December,—Determi- nation, by M. Gylden’s methods, of the motion of the planet Hera (103), by M. Callandreau.—On the polygons inscribed in a conic, and circumscribed on another conic, by M. Dar- boux.—Solar cyclone, by M. Thollon. Observing a peculiarly dark spot on January 3, he perceived two opposite deflections of the line C, corresponding to velocities of 60 and 137 km, respec- tively, in the vast cyclone.—On the thermal laws of the electrie sparks produced by ordinary partial discharges of condensers (second note), by M. Villari. The galvanometric deflections caused by incomplete discharges are proportional to the quantities of electricity forming the discharges. The heat generated by the spark is directly proportional to the quantity of electricity forming the spark.—Variations of the magnetic declination deduced from regular observations at Montcalieri in the period 1871-78, by M. Denza, These agree in the main with observa- tions at other Italian places, and at Prague, Christiania, Munich, and Greenwich, pointing to cosmical causes.—On the Thomson galvanometer, by M. Gaiffe. The scale-indications are not pro- portional to the values of the currents measured, the angles of de- flection of the needle being doubled by reflection of the mirror, This source of error he seeks to correct by using a bifilar suspen- sion formed of two cocoon-fibres.—On the potash contained in the clay of arable soils, by M. Perrey. Clay constantly contains potash varying ordinarily from 2 to 5 per cent., sometimes from 1°8 to 7°3 per cent.—On the tension of dissociation of hydrate of chloral, and on the vapour-tension of ‘anhydrous chloral, by MM. Moitessier and Engel.—Effects of intra-venous injections of sugar and gum, by MM. Montard-Martin and Richet. Sugar injected into dog’s veins always causes polyuria and glycosuria, and does not affect the blood-pressure. Gum has an opposite effect ; it diminishes the polyuria previously produced by sugar, and at length completely stops the secretion of urine; it also increases notably the tension of blood in the arteries.—On the phenomena arising from ligature of ‘the inferior vena caya above the liver, by M. Picard. VIENNA Imperial Academy of Sciences, October 23, 1879.—The earthquakes of Carinthia and their lines of shock, by Prof, Hoefer.—On the histiogenesis of sclerosis of the posterior fibres of the spinal cord, by Dr. Weiss.—On the forces operative on diamagnets, by Prof, Bolzmann.—Determination of path of the -planet Bertha (154) by Herr Anton. November 6, 1879.—The long-haired common guinea-pig (Cavia Cobaya longipilis), by Dr. Fitzinger.—Fish-fauna of the Cauca and the rivers in Guayaquil, by Dr. Steindachner.— Shell-fish fauna of the Galapagos Islands, by Herr Wimmer.— The von Miiller collection of Australian fish, by Dr. Klunzinger. —On the humour passages of hyaline cartilage, by Dr. Spina, —Magnetic measurements in Kremsmiinster in July, 1879, by Herr Liznar.—On compounds from animal tar: III. Lutidine, by Prof. Barth and Herr Herzig, November 13, 1879.—Researches on the development of the central nerve-tissue, by Herr Stricker and Dr. Unger.—On the action of the safety- valve in steam boilers, by Herr von Burg.— Firing under water, by Herr Lorber. November 20, 1879.—The following among other papers were read :—The sporogon of Archidium, by Prof. Leitgeb.—Con- tributions to a knowledge of the hen’s germ at the commencement of brooding, by Herr Koller.—On the last multiplier of differ- ential equations of higher order, by Prof. Winckler. December 4, 1879.—On the striction line of the hyperboloid as rational space-curve of fourth order, by Herr Migotti.—On processes of degeneration and regeneration in uninjured peripheric nerves, by Prof. Mayer. December 11, 1879.—On waterspouts observed near Canea, by Herr Miksche.—Researches on the course of conduction in the spinal cord of the dog, by Dr. Weiss.—A contribution to the theory of urine-secretion, by Dr. Girtner.—On a new isomer of gluconic acid, by Herr Hénig.—On the theory of inconstant galvanic elements, by Prof. Exner. yiyeaighd tha CONTENTS Pace On THE PuorocrapHic Spectra oF Stars. By W. Hucerns,! D.C.L., LL.D., F.R.S. (With Illustrations) . 269 Vocat PuysioLocy AND Hycrene. By Dr. Witttam Pots, F.R.S, 271 Tuz Coprer-Tin Attoys. By W. CHANDLER Rozerts, F.R.S.. . Our Book SHELF :— Pickard-Cambridge’s ‘‘ Spiders of Dorset, with an Appendix con- taining Short Descriptions of those British Species not yet found in Dorsetshire”? ©. '.: «)Ve)5's)) 02 aa weigh te Pasteur’s ‘‘ Studies on Fermentation; the Diseases of Beer, their Causes, and the Means of Preventingthem” . . + » + » + 274 LETTERS TO THE EDITOR:— Ice-Crystals.—The Duxe of ARGYLL . « ,oltel Ketch iain 274 Re-Reversal of Sodium Lines.—C,. A. YOUNG « « « « «© «© » 274 Death of Capt Cook.—Ropert MALtet, F.R.S. » « « © «© + 275 Electricity of the apes uid “«Plame.”—Col. W. A. Ross . . 275 Suicide of Scorpion.—F. GILLMAN . «s+ 6 © es @ e 4 # 275 The Fertilisers of Alpine Flowers.—Dr. HERMANN MULLER « « 275 “ Tdeal’’ Matter.—Percy R. HARRISON . + + + « «© © # # 275 Sun-Spots.—Henry BeprorD). . . « © + + + «© & . 276 A Clever Spider.—Li. A. MoRGAN . « «© so ee e+ ee eee 276 Erratum in Paper on Tidal Friction.—G. H. Darwin, F.R.S.. . 276 AFGHAN Erunotocy. ByA.H.KeanE . ». +» + + « «© © # + 276 Tur METEOROLOGY OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA. +» « + © e © + + + 28% YUL ms Seren Re RCM ty vn Gas AND ELectriciTy In Paris. By W. DE FONVIELLE. . «. » + 282 NorEs - evra | agree Our AsTRONOMICAL CoLUMN:— The Orion-Trapezium . - + + 2+ + * * # © © # & 3 st 286 The Total Solar Eclipse of January? + + + + + + # + # # 287 GROLOGICAL: NOTES: s ‘= He Guitele Feito ite. © f=) foi bilan anime Puysica. NOTES. »« » «© © © * + = * reo ef aoe GaocRAPHICAL NOTEN Ecsite sa ce lo os Vatiet de San wy nh is ate Tue SixrH ConcREss OF RussIAN NATURALISTS «© + + + + + 288 University AND EpucaTIONAL INTELLIGENCE A Hild, ste . 289 ScrenTivic SEBIATS SG Meals hesenihsts Gabe eie nyse be sel*** eee SocreTtes AND ACADEMIES - + Gites ary. a s =. §- see [Fan. 22, 1880 — sa el ee ;4 ie , ? . rc 7 ar . . f NATURE 293 THURSDAY, JANUARY 29, 1880 THE FUNDAMENTAL DEFINITIONS AND PROPOSITIONS OF GEOMETRY, WITH ES- PECIAL REFERENCE TO THE SYLLABUS OF THE ASSOCIATION FOR THE IMPROVE- MENT OF GEOMETRICAL TEACHING ] DESIRE to offer some suggestions respecting the form and arrangement of the elementary definitions and propositions of the Euclidian geometry. It has ap- peared to me that the recent German textbooks upon the subject have made a great improvement upon the older system, as developed in the works of Euclid and Legendre. I have but recently obtained the “ Syllabus of the Associa- tion for the Improvement of Geometrical Teaching” and compared it with the corresponding parts of a summary of my own, the Jatter still in an inchoate state. I now take the liberty of making some remarks ona few points on which I should be greatly pleased to know the views of those interested. In making them, however, no attempt will be made to go below the fundamental conceptions of the subject which are taken for granted in ordinary textbooks, It may be assumed that'there is a general agreement that these conceptions are to be taken for granted, and that the only question is respecting their form and arrangement. One general remark may not, however, be out of place. The aim of elementary geometry is to present its definitions and propositions in a perfectly logical arrangement, so that each definition shall be a complete description, and nothing more, and each pro- position be founded strictly on definitions and axioms. It may be doubted whether this perfect ideal is attainable. It might be claimed that our elementary conceptions of relations in space have been derived from experience by processes of abstraction and generalisation, in which no logical order was followed, and that it is impossible to arrange them with that perfect unity which logical method aims at. However this may be, it will, I think, be con- ceded on all sides that all our systems have hitherto been mere approximations to an ideal which no one has actually reached, In framing a geometrical definition three different ob- jects may be aimed at. 1. To express our fundamental conceptions of the thing defined in the most accurate form possible. 2. To specify those qualities which most completely differentiate the thing defined from all other things, 3. To describe its axiomatic properties, or those which are subsequently used in demonstrating propositions re- lating to it. We thus have three tests which we may apply toa definition and which may lead to different judgments of it. In most cases the same definition will be reached which ever object we have in view. The only concept the definitions of which can be separately classed under all three heads is, so far as I have noticed, that of a straight line. The fundamental quality of a straight line as we conceive of it is, I think, that of symmetry, or similarity of properties with respect to space on all sides ofit. A line which is throughout its whole length per- fectly symmetrical, having no properties on one side which VoL. xx1.—No, 535! it does not equally possess on all other sides, is a straight line. A curve is concave on one side and convex on another. The definition of Simpson’s Euclid that a straight line lies evenly between its extreme points, may be considered as an attempt to formulate this conception of symmetry. The definition which most completely differentiates a straight line from all others is that of some editions of Euclid and Legendre as the shortest distance between two points. It is to be remarked, however, that neither of these properties is directly made use of in demonstrating the subsequent theorems of geometry. The axiomatic definition of a straight line, if I may be allowed to use the expression, is that of Playfair’s Euclid, as being lines which must coincide throughout if they coincide in two points. Quite similar to that is Definition V. of the Syllabus. This class of definitions, or the axioms in which they are embodied, include the only ones which serve as a basis for the subsequent theorems of geometry. It is to the definition of plane figures given in the Syl- labus that the attention of those interested in this subject is especially asked. The following are extracts from the Syllabus :— “Def. VII.—A plane figure is a portion of a plane sur- face inclosed by a line or lines. “Def. VIII.—A circle is a plane figure contained by one line, which is called the circumference, &c. “Def. XXII.—A plane rectilineal figure is a portion of a plane surface inclosed by straight lines. “Def. XXVIII.—A ¢riangle is a figure contained by three straight lines.” These definitions agree with those of the old geometry in defining plane figures as inclosed portions of a plane surface. It seems to me that in no part of geometry is greater reform needed than in this. Figures on a plane surface should, it seems to me, be defined as lines simply, and not as portions of the surface. The following are some of the objections against the old and in favour of the new system of definition :-— 1. By Definition VII., as quoted above, an ellipse is a plane figure because it incloses a portion of a plane sur- face, but a parabola or hyperbola is not, Three straight lines may form a figure, but two cannot. But if we form a figure of three straight lines we must cut off all those portions of each line which lie outside of its intersection with the other two as forming no part of the figure. 2. In the modern synthetic geometry figures are con- sidered in a more general way as formed of lines. A triangle, for instance, is a combination of three indefinite Straight lines. To this we may, if we please, add the restriction that no two shall be parallel, and that all three shall not pass through a point. The quadrilateral is a combination of four such indefinite lines, to which again, if necessary, may be applied the restriction that no three shall be parallel or pass through a point; the circle also becomes the line, not the inclosed space, Therefore when the student, whose ideas of such figures are only those of the elementary geometry, passes to the study of the higher geometry, he is obliged to form a new set of conceptions for the same terms; so great a change, for instance, as substituting the conception of three indefinite straight lines for that of a triangular piece of paper. He reads of ° 294 NATURE the intersection of circles, and must understand that it is something radically different from any intersection of the two round planes which he has been taught to consider as circles. The same change must be carried into space of three dimensions. Studi:s of what in the elementary geometry have been termed solids, when made by modern mathe- maticians, are not studies of solids but surfaces. An ellipsoid in modern mathematics is not a solid but a surface. Of course we cannot reject the conception of an inclosed area, but this area must be regarded as some- thing distinct from the figure itself, just as we regard the perimeter as something different. I do not see that anything but good will result from the change here proposed. In Definition XI. the idea of a “straight” angle is introduced to express the angle of 180° between two lines emanating from a point in opposite directions. I should like to submit the question whether the term flat angle is any better. The converse of straight is bent or crooked, terms which can hardly be applied to an angle. But the converse of flat is sharp or obtuse, terms which can be so applied. Thus, before seeing the syllabus, the term “flat” appeared to me better than “straight.” The introduction of this angle must be regarded as one of the greatest improvements in elementary geometry, but it does not seem to have been introduced into the subse- quent theorems of the syllabus in which the old designa- tion of two right angles has been retained without essential alteration. Intimately associated with the fundamental definition of angular measure are the theorems relating to right angles and to the impossibility of straight lines having a common segment ; the following three propositions are in fact closely connected. Two straight lines cannot have a common segment. All right angles are equal to one another. If a straight line stands upon another straight line it makes the adjacent angles together equal to two right angles. The treatment of these propositions by Euclid seems extremely unsatisfactory, and the order in which they are given in the syllabus a great improvement. Euclid takes the equality of all right angles as an axiom and afterwards proves from it that two straight lines cannot have a common segment. But it seems evident that the equality of right angles depends upon and pre- supposes the impossibility of a common segment. It must first be self-evident that two straight lines cannot have a common segment before it can be evident that all right angles are equal. The third of the propositions just quoted, as considered both by Euclid and Legendre, seem to me unnecessary and circuitous courses of reasoning carried through solely to avoid the conception of the sum of two right angles being ¢¢se/fan angle. This circuit is all the more readily taken from the fact that neither of them has considered it necessary to give a general definition of what shall be meant by the sum of two angles. The syllabus gives this definition and from it alone, without any reasoning what- ever, it follows that the sum of the two angles referred to is a flat angle. As an additional illustration of the simplicity intro- duced by the consideration of the flat angle we may take Theorem XXVI. of the syllabus, that the interior angles of any polygon, together with four right ‘angles, are equal to twice as many right angles as the figure has sides. In the new notation we would say that the sum of the interior angles of the polygon is equal to a number of flat angles two Jess than the polygon has sides, an obvious simplification. With reference to Definition XII. I would suggest the question whether it would not be better to reserve the term “adjacent angles’’ for the pair of angles which a straight line makes with another at the point of meeting, We might call these supplementary angles, but the term is suggestive not simply of an arrangement of the two angles but of any pair of angles, wherever or however situated, which together make a flat angle. We certainly need some term to correspond with the Mebenwinkel of the Germans, and I know of none in our geometry, In Theorem VI. of the syllabus, which is the same as as Proposition V.,of Euclid, namely, ‘‘The angles at the base of an isosceles triangle are equal to one another,” the syllabus suggests a different demonstration from that of Euclid. The extreme complication of the demonstration given by Euclid is very striking, and it will be interesting to see how it arose. Apparently Euclid wished to avoid the conception of turning a figure over and applying it to itself. But the validity of this turning over is presup- posed in the demonstration of the theorem, for without it the equality of two triangles having two sides and the included angle equal would be true only for triangles in which the two sides are similarly situated. This question is of especial interest when we apply it to the correspond- ing case of two equal solid bodies which are mutually opverted or in other words each of which is represented by the image of the other seen in a looking-glass. Are we entitled to assume that two such bodies are identically equal when it is impossible to bring them into coinci- dence? The only reason why we cannot bring them into coincidence is that our space is confined to three dimen- sions. Could we open out a fourth dimension in space the one body could, by simple rotation through 180°, be brought into the form of the other and thus made iden- tically equal to it. A man by turning a properly directed somersault in such space would come back into our natural Euclidian space, turning right side left without the mutual arrangements of the parts of his body, even to the minutest atoms, undergoing any change whatever in their relative positions; and therefore without any change, so far as we could see, in the performance of the vital functions. But as a fourth dimension is necessary to the actual performance of such an obversion, so in plane geometry, the third dimension is necessary to the obversion of a plane figure. The syllabus, and so far as I know all the elementary geometries in English are silent on the validity of this process. The question whether Theorems X. and XI. that the greater side of every triangle is opposite the greater angle, and the greater angle opposite the greater side, should be regarded as independent and demonstrating in entirely different ways is interesting. Since only one side and one angle can be in the relation of opposition how is it possible that the one theorem should be true without the other? Does not one theorem follow from the other by the rule of identity, and}can they not be [ Fan. 29, 1880 Fan. 29, 1880] NATURE 295 combined into the single theorem that the greater side and the greater angle are opposite each other? SIMON NEWCOMB THE SCIENCE OF STATESMANSHIP a science and politics are two very different things; some progress has been made in methodising the facts and inductions of pelitical economy, but politics is still little more than a chaos of party prejudices and per- sonal invective. Yet there is surely no reason why political action, the conduct of the State, should not be guided by scientific method quite as much as the conduct of a scien- tific exploring expedition such as that which has so recently sailed over the North-East Passage. Prof. Nordenskjéld’s feat is one of the finest instances of scientific prediction based on ascertained data that we know of, and we would recommend it to Sir William Harcourt’s consideration when he contemplates taking part in another political “agitation.’’ Sir William has succeeded in getting such a firm grasp of the real nature of scientific method, and he applied it so wittily and so well in his recent Birmingham address that we would advise him to follow out this line in real earnest. So thoroughly does he seem to understand the method of scientific research and scientific prediction, and so ably, although only in sport and to banter his opponents, did he expound it, that we think science has lost in him a successful worker. To this loss we could resign ourselves if Sir William would set himself to rescue politics from its present degraded position as a mere theatre for party strife, and to elevate it into something like a science of national life and progress. He must have taken considerable pains to obtain his knowledge of the method and uses of the Nautical Almanac, his natural mistake as to its editorship we can overlook. As to the truth of his application of the method of the almanac to the construction of a Conservative Almanac ‘after a careful induction from the conduct of Tory government,” we have nothing to do here; its ingenuity is amusing. With the following remarks, however, men of all parties cannot but agree :— “Prediction in politics is not a matter of choice, but of necessity. If public men are not fatalists like the states men of our dariing Islam, they are bound to foresee and foretell the consequences of their action by which the fortunes of the country are determined. As the predic- tions prove true or false so will they be judged, for political prophecy, founded upon correct observation and just inference, is nothing else but the science of statesmanship itself.”’ Here Sir William has struck a vein which might be worked out to the elevation of politics, and with real good to the country. It is, we believe, regarded as an incon- trovertible axiom in British politics, that government by party is the surest method of securing the most efficient conduct of public affairs. This point we shall not discuss; but we venture to think that if our political leaders were to give their serious attention to the method indicated above, party differences would be fewer than they are, and party strife less bitter, while the objects supposed to be aimed at by all constitutional governments would be much more effectually and rapidly accomplished. At present, to judge from the public utterances of our members of parliament and by the results achieved by which ever party may be in power, party government consists mainly in strenuous efforts made by each party either to keep or to obtain place and power; this is accomplished by means of what are called “agitations,” the great object of which seems to be to agitate the people into the belief that the agitators are angels from heaven who have the good of the nation disinterestedly at heart, while their opponents are quite the reverse, the only object of the latter being, it is declared, to send the nation to the custody of the person whose emissaries they are. There are one or two eminent men of science in parliament, but no one of either party ever seems to think of looking at any measure or any line of conduct apart from party bias, and solely as a matter for scientific consideration. It seems enough to damn a measure at once in the eyes of one party, that it originates with their opponents. This is both unscientific and irra- tional, and can never lead to the best results. The same laws that influence the development of the individual influence the real progress of the nation, and it is only by honest investigation on strictly scientific principles that these laws can be discovered. It is thus that they have been discovered and expounded by Mr. Darwin and his followers in the case of individual organisms, and we would commend to Sir William Harcourt the study of Mr. Darwin’s works, if he really desires to arrive at the true principles of scientific statesmanship. One of the great charms of Mr. Darwin’s works to the man of science is their perfect candour and fairness. Not only does he adduce all the arguments he can muster in favour of any position or hypotheses he may be considering, but with equal fulness and candour does he treat all, according to his lights, that might be adduced against it, balancing the one series of arguments against another, not in the style of aspecial pleader, but after the manner of a judge whose sole aim is to discover the truth. Here is a specimen of the method followed by Mr. Darwin, showing his ingenuity in imagining objections to his own theories and thus putting arguments into the mouths of his opponents. We quote. from the “ Origin of Species” (1860, p. 462) :— “As on the theory of natural selection an interminable number of intermediate forms must have existed, linking together all the species in each group by gradations as fine as our present varieties, it may be asked, Why do we not see these linking forms all around us? Why are not all organic beings blended together in an inextricable c.aos? With respect to existing forms, we should re- member that we have no right to expect (excepting in rare cases) to discover directly connecting links between them, but only between each and some extinct and supplanted form. Even on a wide area, which has during a long period remained continuous, and of which the climate and other conditions of life change insensibly in going trom a district occupied by one species into another dis- trict occupied by a closely allied species, we have no just right to expect often to nnd interme.iiite varietics in the intermediate zone. For we have reason to believe that only a few species are undergoing change at any one period ; and all changes are slowly effected. I have also shown that the intermediate varieties which will at first probably exist in the intermediate zones will be liable to be -upplanted by the allied forms on either hand ; and the litter, from existing in greater numbers, will generally be modited and improved at a quicker rate than the intermediate varieties, which exist in lesser numbers ; 296 NATURE so that the intermediate varieties will, in the long run, be supplanted and exterminated. Beil, “On this doctrine of the extermination of an infinitude of connecting links, between the living and extinct in- habitants of the world, and at each successive period between the extinct and still older species, why is not every geological formation charged with such links? Why does not every collection of fossil remains afford plain evidence of the gradation and mutation of the forms of life? We meet with no such evidence, and this is the most obvious and forcible of the many objections which may be urged against my theory. Why, again, do whole groups of allied species appear, though certainly they often falsely appear, to have come in suddenly on the several geological stages? Why do we not find great piles of strata beneath the Silurian system, stored with the remains of the progenitors of the Silurian groups of fossils? For certainly on my theory such strata must somewhere have been deposited at these ancient and utterly unknown epoch in the world’s history.”” Did we urge Mr. Darwin’s method upon the members of our two great political parties, we fear we should only be laughed to scorn, And yet is not such an attitude in any body of men, most of all in those men whose duty it is to discover what is best for the welfare of the State, well calculated to inspire honest and thoughtful men with melancholy? Fancy Mr. Gladstone bringing before an audience during one of his great “‘agitation’’ tours, not only ail that can be said against any of Lord Beaconsfield’s foreign coups, but, on the other side, all that could be said in favour of them, and then striking a judicial balance. And would not Lord Beaconsfield be considered as in- dulging in a huge joke, if, after a Mansion House dinner, he should proceed to treat the conduct of his great opponent after a similar fair and judicial fishion, yet this would be the true scientific method of arriving at the truth in public affairs, just as it is in the investigations with which physical and natural science deals. And it is really because our parliamentary agitators despise their audiences that they treat them to only one side of a question ; and if these audiences were as intelligent as they ought to be, they would not listen to any public agitator who treated them so one-sidedly. By and by let us hope that the nation will be so far advanced that poli- ticians will give and the public will insist on being told all that can be said both for and against any measure. “ Agi- tation,” however, is not the best atmosphere in which to carry on scientific work; quite the opposite. And we should advise those of our public men who are really desirous to discover the science of statesmanship, and to guide their public conduct by its principles, to leave the method of agitation alone for a period, and take to calm but rigid scientific research in their own depart- ment, and we are sure the results will surprise even them- selves. Scientific method is peculiar to no section of phenomena ; it is rapidly embracing many departments of research that at one time were thought to be beyond the pale of science ; and we venture to think that in no dejartment could it be applied with greater success than in that department which hitherto has been almost en- tirely under the sway of prejudice and blind party spirit. Sir William Harcourt has clearly shown what can be done in sport ; let him and others now try as earnestly whether even greater success would not attend scientific political prediction in earnest, And | [ Fan. 29, 1880 In the case of individuals, if we know their constitu- tions and their circumstances, wes can to some extent guide their development and influence its direction; we can to some extent help them in the struggle for exist- ence, and enable them to comply with the law of the survival of the fittest. Whether or not these two laws would justify the recent conduct of foreign affairs by the present Government, it is not for us to say. That conduct we know is justified by many on these © grounds ; at all events, we believe that if scientific states- manship, and not mere party prejudice, were the guiding principle in the conduct of public affairs, this nation would be more fitted than ever to survive and play the leading part in the affairs of the world. Scientific retrospection is quite as important as scien- tific prediction; we must recognise all the causes and their interactions or we may go wrong ; but Mr. Bright in his recent sketch of the progress of the country during the past fifty years, altogether ignored what we believe the most important factor—the results of scientific re- search. Even granting the value of all the political measures to which he referred, where would the country have been at the present day had it not been for the results obtained by the quiet workers in science? Some time ago he gave a great Free Trade speech, in which he dwelt upon the immense benefits which have accrued to the country from the line of policy indicated by that expression. He went on sketching the progress of free trade, and the concomitant progress of the country, as if no other cause could possibly have been at work, and as if such powers as science, railroads, penny posts, im-~ proved machinery, increased population, and the like— gave no greater impulse to the development of the nation than an annotated edition of an obscure classic by a still more obscure Oxford don. It is not for us to pro- nounce on the merits or demerits of free trade or protec- tion, but we venture to think that all that can be said in favour of either the one or the other is small when compared with the services rendered to the country by science during the past fifty years. What about railways, and telegraphs, and the great results of engineering skill, and the application of science to manufactures and agriculture, improvements in navigation, the invaluable practical discoveries of chemistry, and a thousand and one other fruits of scientific research ? Of these the political partisan takes no account; his fune- tion, as compared with that of the true worker in science, seems to us pretty much like that of the organ-blower as compared with the organist. We have said that there are one or two really able men of science in parliament ; but they are only one or two. Probably in no parliament in Europe is science so sparsely represented, and yet we do not advise our real scientific workers to seek admission | into an arena that we fear would be little congenial to them. But is it not high time that all our members of parliament should be really well-educated men, know something about the principles and results of a department which has done so much for the nation and on which its real welfare and progress so largely depends? Sir William Harcourt has shown that there is no reason why this should not be done, and we ‘trust that not only will he follow out the course he has so well begun, and do this not merely for a gibe, but that his example will OO roe! — Fan. 29, 1880] stimulate other well-meaning members of parliament to do what they can to qualify themselves to conduct the legislation of the country on broader, more enlightened, and more scientific principles than have ever hitherto been brought into play. Meantime those who have the true welfare of our country at heart will use every means to get education in science introduced into all our schools and colleges without distinction, so that in future years rulers and people will be guided in their public conduct not by party prejudices but by the principles of scientific statesmanship. 285 eels 25038 2093802 2 eS eee NICHOLSON’S PALAZSONTOLOGY A Manual of Paleontology, for the Use of Students. With a General Introduction on the Principles of Paleontology. By H. Alleyne Nicholson, M.D., &c., Professor of Natural History in the’ University of St. Andrew’s. Second Edition. (W. Blackwood and Sons, 1879.) 1 is a great pity that there should be any demand for a Student’s Manual of Palzontology. The separation of the study of extinct forms of life from that of recent animals, which is implied in the term Palzontology, and which is unfortunately largely maintained in practical science, is much to be deplored. In nearly all great museums, as in the British Museum, tlie fossil series of. animal remains are preserved and displayed in different parts of the museum from that in which the recent ones repose and are studied and taken care of by a separate staff of officials. The extinct corals, for example, are in the hands of one set of, naturalists and the recent corals in the hands of another, the most closely allied or even identical species are widely separated from one another, and considerable labour and trouble are caused to any observer who wishes to bring them together for com- parison. There are necessary gaps enough in the various zoological series from the imperfection of the geological record; in museum collections they should be rendered as small as possible. * oar Prof. Nicholson’s book cannot take the place of such a work as Quenstedt’s “ Petrefactenkunde,” which has a proper standpoint as being required by the geologist as a means of identifying fossils. The present work may be described as an attempt to teach students as much as possible about those forms of life which happen to be extinct, by means of the aid of as litle knowledge of living forms as possible. The author writes in the introduction: ‘‘ Palaeontology may be con- sidered as the zoology and botany of the past. Re- garding it from this, the only true point of view, some knowledge of zoology and botany is essential to the pro- secution of the study of palzontology, and such details of these sciences as may be deemed requisite will be intro- duced in the proper place.” Some knowledge of zoology and botany is indeed required to make a man a successful paleontologist; the real fact is, that it is only the most skilful and deeply-versed zoologists and botanists who are capable of dealing with the problems of palzontology with any valuable result. Only those most intimately acquainted with living forms are qualified to deal with the fragmentary remains of extinct animals and plants. NATURE i. ia ceases sas a 297 It would be well, indeed, if the term paleontology were abolished, and with it any pretensions of investigators to treat fossils from a separate standpoint. Botanists are full of complaints of the confusions introduced into their science by the operations of certain palzo-botanists, to use the present author’s term, who manufacture genera and species wholesale from impressions of single leaves or even fragments of leaves, and there are plenty of confusions equally detrimental in the nomenclature of extinct animals, It is most illogical to separate the members of the animal and plant series for purposes of study into two groups: that containing those forms which exist at the present epoch, and that embracing those which have lived and mostly become extinct during the vast antecedent period of which record remains. The separation is a purely artificial one, productive of no good, illustrating no general’ scientific law, coinciding with no natural division of the biological series: and is, further, one especially likely to produce misleading impressions in the minds of students. Throughout the book the author recurs again and again to the distinction of paleontology as a science from zoology and botany. He writes of palzeontology as based on ¢he kindred sciences of zoology and botany. “No satisfactory acquaintance with the former can be arrived at without the previous acquisition of some knowledge of the latter.” “A few points of these sciences may be noticed as having special bearing on the study of palz- ontology.”” Further on, in an account of Prof. Huxley's now abandoned group, the Annuloida, which is retained in the present work, it is mentioned that “The sub- kingdom was proposed by Huxley as a provisional arrangement to include the two groups of the Echino- dermata and Scolecida, and the following extraordinary statement follows: Whether this arrangement be ultz- mately retained or not matters not at all to the paleonto- logist, as no member of the Scolecida is known in the fossil condition. ‘ Could any teaching be more pernicious to a student ? After several very good introductory chapters on general geological subjects, Chapter VI. treats of the divisions of the animal kingdom and succession of organic types. The author, after treating of the de- velopment theory, concludes by patting the Darwinian theory complacently on the back “as an invaluable, indeed an indispensable, working hypothesis,” but most unfortunately for the value of his book, he does not make use of the theory as a working one, but considers it “preferable to enter upon the study of the actual facts unfettered by preconceptions and unpledged to theories.’ He accordingly treats of the classification of the animal kingdom in most antiquated style. All animals may be classed under. five or six “morpho- logical types,” and “no comparison is possible between an animal belonging to one sub-kingdom and one belonging to another, since their distinguishing characters are the results of the modification of two essentially different ground plans.”’ “We must abandon the idea that it is possible to establish a linear classification of the animal kingdom.” But why suggest any such erroneous idea as this latter to the student at all? If only the working hypothesis had been adopted, the real meaning of modern scientific 298 NATURE classification, as representing pedigree and being arbor- escent in structure might have been pointed out. As it is the impression to be gathered by the student must be that the whole classification is disjointed and artificial. The classification given is obsolete and imperfect in many respects. The Sponges are placed amongst the Protozoa notwithstanding all that is now known of their embryonic development. The Tunicataare placed with the Brachiopods and Polyzoa as composing the Molluscoida. The Sirenia are put next to the Cetacea between the Edentata and Ungulata, and the two are treated of in one chapter as if allied to one another. Finally, man, with his venerable but flattering specific title “sapiens,’’ is placed in the old separate order Bimana, apart from the orang and the gorilla, whilst animals so widely different as the rhinoceros and sheep, nevertheless occupy the same order Ungulata. How perverted must be the conception formed by a student of the value of morphological facts, when the results of their study are presented to him in tabular form on so utterly unequal a scale as this. A book so large as the present necessarily takes a long time in preparation, and consequently, as the author explains in the preface, many recent publications of importance were not available to him for use in the earlier part of it. Hence the “Tabulata” are still retained as a group amongst the corals, although they have been given up as such by the author in his recent monograph on the Palzozoic tabulate corals. By far the greater part of the book is taken up by the description of invertebrata, and the vertebrata receive comparatively less attention. Prof. Nicholson gives his reasons for not treating the vertebrata with the same ful- ness as the invertebrata. ‘‘The fossil remains of verte- brates are, in many cases, of the highest interest, but they come much less frequently under the notice of the ordinary student than do the remains of the inverte- brates.” We should have thought that these would be precisely the reasons why these rarities should be de- scribed at length, but “no practical study of the fossil vertebrates can be carried on without a considerable acquaintance with comparative osteology.”” Who, then, is the “working palzontologist” for whose benefit, as we are told in the same paragraph, the present treatise is intended? We can understand the value to a working geologist of a book which shall enable him to determine with ease the names of fossils, that he may use them in the prosecution of his researches as so many counters ; but the present book does not, like Quenstedt’s, meet this requirement in any way. . Granting, however, that there are students who re- quire a work of instruction such as the present, the book is not without many merits, and care has been taken to introduce some account of all recent discoveries of importance. The account of the vertebrata con- tains a great deal of interest, including an account of some of the most interesting of the discoveries of fossil * vertebrata in the United States. A good woodcut of the large tooth-bearing diving-bird, Hesperornis regalis, is given, taken from Prof. Marsh's restoration of it. It was between five and six feet in height. Figures are also given of the skull of Prof. Marsh’s Dinoceras mirabile, with huge canines and three pairs of horn-cores, and also of the feet of the same curious form, which is considered by Prof. Marsh as intermediate between the Perisso- dactyle Ungulates and the Proboscidea. The elevation of the Platysomid fishes to the rank of a distinct division of Ganoids is adopted by the author, owing to a misunderstanding of certain manuscripts placed at his disposal by Dr. Traquair, who has disclaimed his concurrence in the matter in the Aznals and Magazine of Natural History. In consequence of Dr. Traquaitr’s letter a slip has been inserted in all but the earliest copies of the book correcting the error. 4 The book concludes with chapters on palzobotany, which term hardly describes the contents since they are geologically and not botanically arranged. A slight sketch is given of the floras of the successive geological epochs, the characteristic fossil plants being named and figured but without much account of the details of their structure. An antiquated classification of plants is adopted, the Conifers and Cycads being grouped with the dicotyledonous Angiosperms as Exogens or Dicotyledons, whilst the monocotyledonous Angiosperms are separated from the remainder as Exogens. There is a glossary of terms at the end of the book in which the Greek words look curious as printed in Roman characters, especially as the long vowels are not marked as such in any way. The first word in the list is Abdomen, which is for some unexplained reason derived from the Latin aédo, I conceal, instead of given as itself a Latin word of the same sense as that in which it is used in science. It is surely also doubtful whether the word abdomen has anything to do with abdo. It is suggested in some dictionaries that it is a corruption of adipomen. The book is sumptuously got up and contains over 700 woodcuts, most of which are very good, many being familiar as taken from D’Orbigny and elsewhere, but. many also being new. Good lists of references to mono- graphs are given at the ends of the chapters, and form a very valuable and important feature in the work. SIZING AND MILDEW IN COTTON GOODS Sizing and Mildew in Cotton Goods. By G. E. Davis, C. Dreyfus, and P. Holland. (Manchester: Palmer and Howe.) Tt application of a certain kind of science to a certain kind of commerce is rapidly producing a literature of its own. It is not long since that we had occasion to notice a work which treated of the manner in which silks could be “weighted” by chemical means, and the volume now before us is the second of its kind which is concerned with the relations of chemistry and mycology to the manufacture of cotton goods. In order to explain the raison d’étre of this book, it may be desirable to premise that in making cotton cloth it is necessary to “size” the longitudinal threads or warp in order that they may be able to withstand the strain in the loom. The size binds the individual fibres together in the thread, and by giving it an even surface, diminishes the fraying action of the reed in its motion to and fro after the passage of the shuttle. “Pure” size consists of a mixture of fermented flour, soft or curd soap, and tallow; or of sago and cocoa-nut oil in water. The yarn is occasionally sized in the hank by hand, but this method is rapidly giving way to the use of machinery, by means of [ Fan. 29, 1880 eS er oF " Fan. 29, 1880] _ NATURE 299 ‘which the warp is pulled in single threads through the sow-box, or vessel in which the sizing liquor is contained, and is afterwards dried by heated air or by passing round cylinders filled with steam. The amount of size in the so-called “pure” cloths varies from 5 to 7 percent. In such cloths the quantity of fibre is from 92 to 94 per cent., the remainder being made up of mineral matter derived from the raw cotton. Now as one element in determining the value of cloth is its weight, it happened that at about the time of the “cotton famine” which followed the civil war in America, that certain unscrupulous manufacturers introduced the practice of “heavy-sizing’’—that is, in plain terms, of substituting cheap mineral substances for cotton. Some idea of the extent to which this adulteration is practised may be seen from the following analysis of a heavily-sized warp, published by the authors. It will be noticed that only about one-third of the substance is cotton fibre, the remaining two-thirds being made up of - clay, flour, and fats, with certain mineral chlorides. - ( Fibre at at gute Se Cotton Fibre | Natural moisture... ... #3 ee 35°83 Moisture with size ene SE MC ecteter MARS? elvan) xix, ee! ace yoga Starchy matters ... ... 16°16 27°01 Wetorshash 6. ses ass, COO . Chinaelay~ =..° 257 ...° 320 Meo Chloride of magnesium... bee a MiG so) cits, FORMAL 37°16 100 00 Very large quantities of a variety of cloth known in the Manchester trade as an “ eight-and-a-quarter-pound shirting” find their way to India and China, The general character of a very considerable proportion of this substance may be determined from the following numbers :— = Ibs. oz. mt eve Sug: fg ee Beene ae © Welt SoMa Sete acs. cts, OSES 4 10 Pure cloth, 3. Q Size, &c. Parle everest Oo rf To the general reader a word or two of explanation ccn- cerning the extraordinary complexity of the composition of a piece of modern grey cloth, as revealed by the fore- going analysis, may be desirable. It will be seen that the main weight-giving substance is China clay, which has to be suspended in a sizing liquor of pretty stiff consistency. In order to preserve the clay upon the fibre it is necessary to keep the fabric slightly damp ; this is effected by the addition of some highly hygroscopic material to the size, such as the magnesium chloride, which is one of the most deliquescent substances known to the chemist. The constant presence of moisture, how- ever, renders the fabric very liable to mildew, especially if the flour has not been properly fermented before it is incorporated into the sizing liquid; and it is in order to prevent this that some antiseptic is added, usually chloride of zinc. There is no doubt that in the outset the manufacturers, as a body, set their face against the production of such stuff, Twenty years ago these fabrics had an evil reputa- tion: they were made by tenth-rate manufacturers and sold by tenth-rate agents. But the heat of competition has changed all this. The immense quantities of these goods which found a market in India and China—indeed, they were mainly made for exportation—compelled the great majority of Lancashire manufacturers to respond to the demand for these combinations of ‘China-clay and starch with a modicum of cotton, a demand which is very largely fostered by the numberless middle men who come between the manufacturer and the con- sumer. The usual result has followed : the very fact that numbers are engaged in it has given the trade an air of respectability. Que fuerunt vitia, mores sunt. The other day Mr. Consul Gardner reported from Cheefoo that a bad name attaches to Manchester goods among the Chinese, consequent on attempts “to sell glue as cloth,” and it is highly amusing to read how the Manchester Chamber of Commerce waxed indignant, and how they re- quested Lord Salisbury ‘to prevent the publication of similar statements in the future”! It is rather significant, too, that whenever a book on the subject of cotton-sizing is put forth, it should be thought necessary by the authors to dwell upon the “moral aspects” of the question in entire obliviousness of the salutary caution that to excuse is too frequently to accuse. Some of the arguments in extenuation would be amusing if they were not grotesque, as in the book before us, where we read, on p. 99, that “no one, we suppose, will deny that for coffin linings, &c., a heavily-sized but cheaper cloth is not just as good as a purer but more expensive article. If this be granted, the existence of such a material is certainly a boon.” How very grateful the undertakers ought to feel for such a boon ! It is hardly worth while to take up valuable space by noticing the merits or demerits of a book such as this, the object, or at least the tendency, of which is to show the manufacturer how, by the application of certain scientific facts and principles, he may seek to perpetuate a system which, we honestly think, is simply a gigantic fraud. Our authors comment adversely on the assertion of a certain county court judge, in a case which came before him, that the “ warp-sizer and manufacturer, in re- ceiving and giving the order for sizing some warp, had entered into a conspiracy to defraud the public,” but it seems to us not improbable that the judge might be per- fectly right. It is almost certain that such a system will not be perpetuated: people will not sheathe themselves with shirts of China-clay. The time was when Manches- ter made cottons for the world, but her supremacy is being rapidly undermined ; and who shall say that her sins have not contributed to her downfall? LETTERS TO THE EDITOR [The Editor does not hold himself responsible for opinions expressed by his correspondents, Neither can he undertake to return, or to correspond with the writers of, rejected manuscripts. No notice is taken of anonymous communications. ( The Editor urgently requests correspondents to keep their letters as short as possible. The pressure on his space is so great that it is impossible otherwise to ensure the appearance even of com- munications containing interesting and novel facts.] The Intra-Mercurial Planet Question I HAVE read, in NaTuRE, vol. xx. p. 597, your editorial on the above subject. To the language of that portion of it relating to my observations I take most decided exception, You have, 300 NATURE unintentionally of course, done me not a little injustice, owing to a misconception of what I have written, and, strangely enough, you have changed my language, giving it not merely a different, but an opposite, meaning. . I regret that I cannot look at all charitably on your baseless charges that I have ‘‘made different statements, and exhibited a degree of hesitancy about it.” I had thought that my meaning regarding this question could not possibly be misconstrued, but, perhaps, in going over so much ground in so short a letter, I may not have been so clear on every point as I supposed. My desire to divest the subject of all ambiguity, and to defend my observations, if not my character, from the grave charges you have made, is my only excuse for again appearing before the world. Now, if you will give me a little space in your widely- read journal, I will, as briefly as I can, endeavour to make the subject as plain as written language will allow. If in any per- son’s mind there yet lingers the idea that I have made different and contrary statements, my first effort shall be to set him right. Surmising that in one of your charges (different statements) you refer to the estimated distance of 12’ between the two objects seen by me during the total phase of the eclipse, I answer by emphatically saying that I have never published such a state- ment. A little explanation, however, is here necessary for clearness of conception, As soon as I saw the two stars I was confronted with half a dozen questions which required immediate answers, for time was precious, viz.: 1. What stars are they? 2. How far and in what direction from the sun? 3. How far apart? 4. Of what magnitudes? 5. In what direction do they point? What star, in the clearest, darkest night, appears to the naked eye as bright as do these? In response to 3, my zxsfan- zaneous impression was about 12’, but, as quickly thinking how wide of the mark I might be in the estimation of so large a distance, I chose to impress it on my mind, knowing that, after arriving at home, I could soon find two stars whose apparent distance would be sensibly the same. This I did, aud have several times published to the world the result, viz., that they were a little over half that between Mizar and Alcor, or about 7’ apart, What I wrote in my note-book of the 12’ I discarded immediately, and all the time have said, in language too plain to be misunderstood, that it was of no value at all. Every pub- lished statement has been a reiteration of this, and where, I ask, is the excuse for any who have read my letters «nd reports to misunderstand this? The distance recorded in my note-book was merely for reference, to see how near the truth the guess would come out, I repeat that I have never published that they were 12’ apart, and your charge that I have made ‘‘ different statements ” falls harmlessly to the ground. Have I not ad- hered with unyielding pertinacity to the facts first published, that they were about 3° south-west of the sun? That they were exactly equal in brightness, and of the fifth ma/nitude? That the disks were large and red? That they were about 7’ apart ? And that they pointed towards the sun’s centre? In all I have written I have been as guarded as possible, knowing that the time might come when every word would possess a significance not now anticipated. How, then, with any kind of justice, can I be accused and published to the world as having made different and contradictory statements ? Perhaps you base your charge on the mathematical error made in reducing the e-timated di-tance in arc to that of time, in order to show the near agreement in R.A, between Prof. Watson’s star and mine, but does that come under the head of ** different statements?” If all numerical errors are to be thus classed, who, without sin, can be found to cast the first stone ? I wish it to be distinctly understood that up to this time I supposed (and the fact was disputed by none) that one of my objects was @ Cancri, and the otner Watson’s planet (a), and I was extremely desirous, while it all was fresh in our minds, to settle the matter, so I wrote to him that I could not harmonise his observations—as published—with my own, though I did not tell him what changes were necessary to attain this result. He replied that after making the necessary corrections, the Dec. comes out + 18° 16’, while his previous statement, made before the corrections were applied, declared it to be but 18°. That 16’ helped matters very much, but still was only half enough, as the following facts will show, The Dec. of @ is 18° 30' 20’, that of the sun at the time of the eclipse was about the same, and, as my two objects ranged with the sun’s centre, my new one (his planet (a) as I then supposed) must have had a Dec. almost identical with both, but it is clear that no object with a Dec, of 18° 16’ could range with the sun’s centre, or anything like it if one were @, This is what I meant when, in my reply to Peters, I said, ‘‘ our difference in Dec. was a source of solicitude toe.” ' To show that you did not clearly understand the matter you corrected me, inserting in parentheses after Dec. these characters (?R.A.), as though I had made a mistake. No, I made no mistake but meant just as I said. I had, at that time, but little anxiety about the R.A., supposing that the distance between us was not an irreconcilable one (being ignorant as yet of the error you afterwards pointed out), and this was the way I reasoned. The R.A. of @ was accurately known. I did not, however, know which was @ and which planet (@), but Watson wrote me the planet was nearest the sun, though he located it in R.A, 8h, 27m. 35s., which was too far east to agree with my observa- tion. But I, with great reluctance, increased my estimated distance 1’, calling it 8’ instead of 7’, and, reducing this to time, erroneously called it 2m, ; while it was really but 32s. This wasas far east, or as near to him, as I could go without doing violence to my better judyment. Here arose the question, ‘*Can I not bring Watson nearer to me?” He said: ‘I consider my observation trustworthy to within 5’ of are.” So I brought him 5’ farther west. Nearer to him I could not go, nor nearer to me could | consistently bring him, as he was certain no error had been made, After all, we were too far apart to harmonise things, and, after much reflection, I made another attempt to shorten the bridge over the chasm between us, I tried to imagine that the planet had just passed its inferior conjunction, and, during the five minutes that elapsed between our observations (mine being the later), it had retrograded a little. This was why I contended that it had just passed its inferior conjunction, and that the evidence adduced from their exceptionally large disks was inadequate to prove that it was approaching superior con- junction, when it would, of course, have a very large gibbous disk. Up to this time the thought that I hadseen anything else than @ and Watson’s planet (a) had not entered my mind. Being unable to reconcile our difference in R,A., though I then sup- posed we were not far apart (having as yet no intimation of the above-named error), I turned my attention to the matter of difference of Dec., which I could see no way to reconcile, as it amounted to over 14’ as follows :— * ‘ “ Dec. + Swift = 18 30 25 >» + Watson = 18 16 00 14 25 The above Dec., as deduced by me, was published in NATURE, vol. xviii. p. 539, in which I also computed its R.A. to have been (erroneously, as before stated) 8h. 26m, 40+. Com- menting on this letter, you pointed out the error of the reduction of the 8 of arc to time. I instantly saw that 8’ was but 32s., and that we were really wider apart in R.A. than in Dec. ‘Lhen I said in reply to Dr. Peters, ‘* The scales fell from my eyes, and I was able to see my way clearly through the mystery, viz., that Watson’s planet (a) and @ Cancri were not the objects seen by me.” an to this point I have endeavoured to make the subject con- nected and plain, and if I have not then I despair of ever being able to do so, I now return to your editorial, which, except what you say of myself, is a fair and candid one, Please allow me to quote a few lines from that part of it where you attempt to quove me in my reply to Peters: ‘‘ He now writes that the difference in Dec, (? R.A.) shown by his own and Watson’s observations had been a source of solicitude, and he could see no way to harmonise them till NATURE pointed out the error,” &c. I said nothing of the kind, but something as different as the zenith is from the nadir. You, by inserting the characters in,parentheses, make me say that I felt solicitude about the R.A. My concern was for the Dec. as I stated it, that of R.A. being nearly wijed out, as I then—unconscious as yet of the aforesaid mistake—supposed. But the most curious thing of all is that you should interpret me as saying that Watson’s and my own observations were har- monised by your detection and pointing out of the error, when just the opposite was the effect. It dsharmonised them, for it showed me that instead of our objects being quite near together in K.A., we were more than a half degree apart. This, coupled with our irreconcilable difference in Dec., caused, as I said, “the scales to fall from my eyes,” &c. This matter, which at first sight might appear trivial, is a vital one in my defence, [Fan. 29, 1880 i ; om Fan. 29, 1880] and I wish to make out a perfect vindication, hoping never again to be obliged to recur to it. If you will refer to my reply to Peters, you will see that I speak of our difference in R.A. and stop, coming to a full pause. I then take up the subject of Dec., and when through with that, make another period. Then I say, ‘‘ Thus the matter rested until NATURE pointed out the error, &c.” Is not your language about as unlike this as can well be? In response to your wish to be able to tell your readers ‘* how this sudden illumination caused the scales to fall from my eyes,’ I hope the above explanation will prove full and clear to all. f Your second charge, ‘‘ hesitancy about the matter,” is a new one, and so at variance with truth that necessity, even at the expense of being prolix, compels me to refute it, and to show to the world that this charge is as baseless as the other. How long did I hesitate? I answer, from the time of the eclipse until just two minutes after my arrival at home, when, though very weary and ill, and before I was seated, I consulted ‘‘ Webb’s Celestial Objects” to see how far Alcor was from Mizar. Thenand only then was I able to fix on a definite distance between @ Cancri and, as I then supposed, the planet Vulcan, viz., about 7’. I left Denver the next morning after the eclipse, coming home- ward, both by night and day, as fast as steam could bring me, arriving at home on the P.M. of Saturday, before most of the astronomers had left Denver. I immediately despatched a messenger to the Editor of the Rochester Sunday Morning ferald, notifying him of my arrival, I was at once interviewed by him, and a full account was laid before his readers by day- light the next morning. Sunday p.m. I was interviewed by a reporter of the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, which paper, the next morning, contained a long account of my observations, a considerable part of which was published in NATURE, As soon as possible I wrote the facts to the Astronomer-Royal, to the Odservatory, to Admiral Mouchez, and made out my report to Prof. Colbert, of Chicago (the chief of the party to which I belonged), which, with those of the other members, was pub- lished in pamphlet form, also a more extended one to Admiral Rodgers, not yet published. Very little hesitancy in this I think, I left Denver with Professors Colbert and Hough. On the way Prof. Hough asked me several questions regarding the distance between the two stars. I told him I was unable to give their distance in are, neither could I think of two stars whose apparent distance was the same. I also said to him that the nearest approach to a resemblance which I could then recall were a! and a* Capricorni, but, not having observed them with such an object in view, would not say that they were sensibly the same, After they had left me—changing to another road—and before my arrival at Kansas City, and before night of the day of starting, the thought came suddenly to my mind that their distance apart was about equal to a little more than half that between Mizar and Alcor, whatever that might be, which could not be ascertained until my arrival at home Since the eclipse I have made many observations of @ Cancri and regions adjacent, to see if my judgment would allow me to modify in any particular my observations as made and published, I have even gone to a part of this city where the streets run parallel with and at right angles to the meridian, as they did at our camp, in Denver, and then wait until an imaginary sun some 30' west of 6 Cancri had the same altitude and azimuth as had the real sun during totality. And, while I am not inclined to make any changes whatcver, I will say that it cannot be denied that, as regards the distance and direction from the sun, they can only be considered as rough gues-es, though this does not militate in the least avainst the existence of the new objects. That they are new I know, for they are not there now. Thave never made a more valid observation, nor one more free from doubt regarding the genuineness of the objects seen, which, in my opinion, were circumsolar bodies, unquestionably intra- Mercurial planets. The view of them was as beautiful as it was unexpected, and it was with vreat reluctance that I could break away from the captivating scene. It must be borne in mind that my telescope was filled with a flond of light, with not an object for reference visible, and therefore, when I ran upon these two round red disks, equally bright, and so near together, it is not surprising that they made an impression upon my mind that never will be effaced. The great field for future astronomical discovery will, without doubt, be the sun and his immediate surroundings. Let no man’s prejudice deter him from taking part in such prospective discoveries, for the field promises rich rewards, ” NATURE 30F Though I have said above that I am not inclined to modify my published estimations, yet I am willing to say as follows :— If I were compelled to change the brightness of the two stars one magnitude, and say whether they were of the fourth or sixth, I should answer, the former, If I were compelled to change their distance from the sun half a degree, and say whether they were 2}” or3}°, Ishould saythe latter. Again, if I were compelled to change their direction from the sun, and say a little farther south or north, I should unhesitatingly say the latter, or, as I said in my report to the Naval Observatory, south of west, instead of south-west. And, finally, were I obliged to change their distance apart, and declare whether they were 6’ or 8’, I should, without a moment’s hesitation, say the former, or about the distance between al and a? Capricorni. LEwIs SWIFT Rochester, N.Y., December 10, 1879 The Transverse Propagation of Light In NATURE, vol. xxi. p. 256, appeared a paper by Mr, Tolver Preston, on which I wish to make a few remarks. The author does not make himself very clear as to what he supposes the effect of the vibrating molecules of gross matter on the ether atoms to be. From what I can gather, the effect on a small plane receiving the light from an illuminated ‘* point” would be of the following nature :—When the molecule of gross matter was not vibrating, there would be a more or less shaded spot on the plane, but if the molecule vibrated, then this shaded spot would also vibrate in the same time, which would be pos- sible, since during one vibration of the molecule an extremely large number of ether atoms would impinge on it, and therefore, a large number at each portion cf its vibration. In what fol- lows I shall suppose that this is the manner in which the light is supposed to be propagated, 1. The atoms are very small; the free paths are very long. In order that the acceleration of the sun on all the planets must be inversely proportional to the squares of their distances, this mean path must be comparable with the radius of Neptune’s orbit ; and in order that the light of the stars may be visible, it must be comparable with the distance of the furthest visible star, Again, since, as Mr. Preston says, the automatic adjustment to equality of direction is ‘‘of such a rigid character, that if the atoms were imagined to be disturbed or made to move in the most chaotic manner, they would, when left to themselves, in- stantly correct the irregularity,” it follows that the time of describing the mean free path must be very much smaller than the ‘‘ instantly ” small time in which they ‘‘ correct the irregu- larity.” Their velocity, therefore, must be enormous, They must move to the farthest visible star in a very small fraction of a second. That they have a very large velocity also follows from the smallness of the atoms and the magnitude of gravita- tion. Now the velocity of light on Mr. Preston’s theory must be the velocity with which the atoms move, a velocity which, as has been shown, must be enormously greater than 200,0co miles a second, 2. The above supposes the velocity of all atoms the same, which would not be true. If they varied in the same way as in a gas composed of atoms which do not influence one another, then at a distance from the illuminated point, after a few vibra- tions of the gross molecule, the shaded spot would not vibrate, but would become an elongated shaded spot without motion, and there would be no light all. 3. The data of the theory are definite, and it therefore ought to be capable of explaining the laws of refraction and reflection, let alone those of diffraction. This it is incapable of doing ; for the light that gets through must be carried by atoms which pass through without striking any of the molecules of gross matter; they must therefore pass through without change of direction or velocity, and therefore cannot be deflected. These are three reasons, each of which by itself condemns the ingenious explanation offered by Mr. Preston, W. M. Hicks St. John’s College, Cambridge, January 16 Mountain Ranges Ir is to be regretted that Mr. Trelawney W. Saunders should make confusion worse confounded by noticing imaginary discre- pancies based upon a mistaken assumption of a natural agree- ment. In his paper ‘On the Mountains of the Northern and Western Frontier of India,” published in NATURE, vol, xxi. p- 302 96, he takes geologists to task for not making their descriptions to fit in with-his-delineation of purely superficial features. He reproaches the authors of the ‘‘ Manual of the Geology of India” with adopting an “ antiquated theory 2 which had been disposed of by his demonstration of a second line of peaks in the Hima- layan range. The omission to account for such apparent neglect of recent discovery was solely due to the perceptions of its almost irrelevancy to the matter in hand. The old familiar feature for which Mr. Saunders claims such geographical import- ance (which the writers were not concerned to dispute) happens to be of quite incidental significance in the mountain-structure, and much more in accordance with ‘‘the antiquated theury ” than with the independent position Mr. Saunders would assign toit, Also, the fact that the great gneissic axis of the Hima- layan range divides into several minor axes west of the Sutlej, and that these disappear under fossiliferous formations before reaching the Indus, will probably be held by geologists a, suf- ficient reason for considering this ground as the natural termina- tion of the range. On the other hand, the fact that there should be a continuous watershed between these terminal riages and the contiguous ridges of a confluent system of disturbance, will be admitted by geologists as sufficient for a combined hydrogra- phical delineation of the two systems, as proposed by Mr. Saunders. The points of view of the pure geographer and of the geologist are at present so wide apart that it is irrational to represent them as conflicting. H. B. MEDLIcoTT Calcutta, December 31, 1879 Ice Filaments THE phenomenon alluded to by the Duke of Argyll in Nature, vol. xxi. p. 274, is not at all of unfrequent occur- rence. I remember having been struck by the beauty of these ice-filaments on dead branches in Epping Forest many years ago, and some friends of mine observed some beautiful specimens of such branches in Surrey some few weeks since. The explanation which I have been inclined to give is the following :—During the moist weather preceding the frosts, the dead branches on the ground become sodden with water ; the interstices between the cells of the dead ligneous fibre get saturated by capillarity, and the branches become water-logged. Now if a certain amount of dry weather intervenes between the moist period and tke frost, this absorbed water would have time to partially evaporate and leave the branches more or less dry. But if the frost zmze- diately follows the moist period—as pointed out by the Duke of Argyll—there is no time for the drying of the branches, and the interstitial water becomes frozen 7% sz’. Under these circum- stances the expansive force of the ice would cause it to flow out from every available pore by virtue of its viscosity, and such I take itis the origin of the filaments observed. Those portions of the branches which are protected by bark are sheathed by the latter in such a manner that the ice is prevented from oozing outwards; but my friends who have recently observed the phe- nomenon inform me that where the bark was partly separated from the wood beneath it so as to leave a small intermediate space, this space was likewise filled with filamentous ice. All physicists are familiar with the experiment of su mitting fragments of ice to great pressure in a steel mould with an open- ing in it. The ice becomes consolidated by regelation, and flows out of the opening in a continuous thread. The state of affairs in frozen water-logged branches could thus be imitated by having a steel mould sufficiently strong to bear the pressure, completely filled with water and perforated by capillary holes, and then freezing the contents. The ice would, under the-e circumstances, flow out of the capillary holes in the filamentous form observed, and if a metal band were firmly fastened round the mould so as to sheath a certain zone of the capillary holes, no ice could appear in this zone, which would thus represent the portions of the branches protected by bark. From the point of view of this explanation, which I venture to submit for the judgment of physicists, the Duke is hardly correct in speaking of this filamentous form of ice as an ‘‘ice- crystal,” R. MELDOLA 21, John Street, Bedford Row, W.C., January 23 TuE filamentous form of ice-crystal, described by the Duke of Argyll as occurring upon rotten wood when a frost sets in suddenly after moisture, is by no means uncommon also upon chalk and other porous kinds of stone. It appears to arise from NATURE [ Fan. 20, 1880 | the water with which the body is soaked being extruded by the expansion due to cold when near its freezing-point, and becoming solidified as it passes the surface of the substance. It is, as it were, spun out of the pores of the rotten wood or porous stone. This explanation accounts for the fact, noticed by his Grace, that this form of crystal is not found upon those parts of a decayed branch upon which the bark is unbroken, Harlton, Cambridge, January 23 O. FISHER WHILE residing upon the South Downs I observed, during hard frosts, that prisms of ice exuded from small pieces of chalk, and haying their sections identical with the piece of chalk. Itis clear that the prism was formed by the moisture passing through the chalk by capillary attraction, May not this explain the formation of the filaments described by the Duke of Argyll? H, Kine | The Kangaroo I NOTICE in NATURE, vol. xx. p. 511, in a lecture on ‘* Tails,” the followivg remarks in reference to kangaroos :— ! ‘‘ These creatures make use of their tails not only sometimes to carry grass, and to a certain extent in their jumps,” &c. Per; mit me to state that the former statement is perfectly erroneous and the latter one is correct only in a very modified degree, Kangaroos cannot use their tails to carry grass, and never attempt it, and the use of their tails in jumping is confined to balancing the body, and whatever leverage may be exerted in the swaying of it when in notion. The tail ever touches the ground in going, Twenty years’ observation in three colonies is my authority for saying so. ALFRED MORRIS Sydney, N.S.W., December 30, 1879 Chinese Geese Ir may interest some who read Mr. Darwin’s note on this variety, to know that there are—or were only a few months ago —a rather large number of hybrids, of apparently all grades, at the Bristol Zoological Gardens. When I was there in September there was quite a respectable flock, pure Chinese being among them. . 1 have not unfrequently found both the pure variety and hybrids in the country, and have usually found that the people regarded them merely as a variety. lhe differences mentioned by Mr. Darwin seem scarcely so great as those presented by the Polish fowl—which also, by the way, seems almost to have been regarded as a species by some naturalists of good repute. Lewis WRIGHT The Molecular Velocity of Heat In Nature, vol. xxi. p. 201, which reached me only recently, I find a letter of your correspondent ‘‘ i”, to whom I am much obliged forhaving pointed out tome an error into which Ihad fallen, in common with many others. I may quote, ¢g., the exhaustive work of Riihlmann,! where, in the chapter on the history of the molecular theory, Joule is only alluded to, and imme- diately afterwards the theory of Krénig is given i exlenso, without any hint that it is practically identical with that given by Joule in 1848. Having read ‘‘ R’s” letter, I immediately pro- cured the original article of Joule, and I am now ready to admit that Joule’s article contains all that is essential to Kronig’s method of computing the velocity of gas molecules. It is true, the formula itself as an algebraical expression is not found there, but the calculations given are to all purposes equivalent to the formula, It is scarcely necessary to add that this makes no difference at all in reference to the contents of my letter in NATURE, vol. xxi, p. 176, referring, as it does, only to the historical foot- note, L, HaJNis Prague, Spalena ulice, 2 nové, January 20 Suicide of the Scorpion SINCE writing mine of the 12th inst, I have, I believe, dis- covered in Byron’s ‘‘Giaour” the scientific (?) flight of fancy upon which Dr. R, F, Hutchinson based his central glowing 1 Handbuch der mechanischen Warmethe:ric.”” -¥ Fan, 29, 1880] NATURE 305 inference in his last letter (NATURE, vol. xxi. p. 226). Here you have it :— ' 4€ The Mind, that broods o’er guilty woes, Is like the scorpion girt by fire ; In circle narrowing as it glows, The flames around their captive close, Till inly search’d by thousand throes, And maddening in her ire, One sad and sole relief she knows : The sting she nourish’d for her foes, Whose venom never yet was vain, Gives but one pang, and cures all pain, And darts into her desperate brain.” I hope to tax your patience no further on scorpion fé/o de se. Prov. de Jaen, Linares, Spain, January 17 F, GILLMAN Meteor A MAGNIFICENT meteor was seen here last Monday evening {19th inst.) at 6.8 p.m. The meteor when first observed had an elevation of about 30° above the horizon and was travelling due west. It appeared to me to be at least four times the size of Jitter and much more brilliant, the colour being bright blue. t seemed to be moving comparatively slowly and was in sight for some two or three seconds. When still about 15° above the horizon it burst, sending forth a number of different coloured sparks, in fact strikingly reminding one of the bursting of a sky- rocket. No report could be heard after the explosion, I may add that the night was very fine and the moon bright, and that a number of small meteors were seen at the same time. West Calder, N.B., January 21 J. S. THomson ON HALLEY’S MOUNT ** Hoc primum ab homine Anglo invertum fuisse non inficia- bitur zequa posteritas,”” N Mrs. Gill’s account of her voyage to Ascension," she relates how her husband (since appointed astronomer at Cape Town) visited Halley’s Mount, a prominent spur on the northern declivity from Diana’s Peak, the central culminating point of the Island of St. Helena. Here, on a small plate u, the sight of a few roughly-squared blocks of tufa cannot fail to inspire the beholder with deep in- terest, for these stones, now overgrown with wild-pepper and blackberry brambles, are all that remain to mark the site of a celebrated astronomical station. The neglected state of these ruinous foundations, “In which there was obscurity and fame, The glory and the nothing of a name,” contrasts in a marked manner with the “exquisite neat- ness” (as Mrs. Gill terms it) which distinguishes the ccenotaph of Napoleon? in the so-called “Vale of the Tomb” several hundred feet beneath. Here it was that Edmund Halley 200 years ago esta- blished his observatory, and first constructed his “Cata- logus Stellarum Australium ;” here he observed the transit of Mercury, and wrote his method of obtaining the sun’s parallax by the forthcoming transits of Venus, and here made the first magnetical observations in the southern hemisphere. On the eve of Mr. Gill's astronomical experiment at Ascension, then a matter of uncertain expectancy, now happily a successful fait accompli, no wonder is it that a * See Narurs, vol. xix. p. 240. ‘Six Months in Ascensi < = Account of a Scientific Expedition.” ee Mrs. Gull. an / pe ae * Darwin says: “After the volumes of eloquence which have poured forth on this subject, it is dangerous even to mention the tomb. A modern traveller, in twelve lines, burdens the poor little island with the following titles: it is a grave, tomb, pyramid, cemetery, sepulchre, catacomb, sar- cophagus, minaret, and mausoleum!” (‘A Natura‘ist’s Voyage,”’ p. 486.) Darwin's lodgings at Hutt’s Gate were within a stone’s throw of Halley’s observatory, of which fact he appears to have been unaware; and, similarly, neither Napoleon nor any of his staff appear to have remarked the scien associations of Halley’s Mount during the six years they were resident at Longwood; a circumstance the more curious, as Napoleon always Patronised science, perhaps less for its own sake than from motives of en Halley found the variation of the compass to be 40’ E., itis now sincere sympathy with the aspirations of his predecessor determined him to some day find the means and oppor- tunity to raise a memorial on the spot. To astronomical students the apotheosis of the great Halley is immortally celebrated by the comet which bears his name; but to the “frofanum vulgus” the mention of Dr. Halley conveys no conception of his genius nor of the practical scientific benefits he bequeathed to the English nation. It was Delambre who, speaking of Halley’s “Synopsis Astronomicze Comete,” said (Asé. Siécle, xviii. p. 310): “ Voila bien, depuis Kepler, ce qué on a fait de plus grand, de plus beau, de plus neuf en astronomie.” It is a fact hardly yet appreciated either in England or America, that Dr. Edmund Halley is second only to Isaac Newton, whose friend and contemporary he was (Newton's “Principia”? was first printed in 1686-7 at Halley's expense), and that it is to this close contempo- raneity alone that the bright light of Halley’s star has suffered diminution of lustre from tke brilliant rays of his world-renowned neighbouring luminary. No biographer has yet appeared to write the life of this great man, nor does any public monument yet adequately represent the national estimation which is so richly deserved by the second most illustrious of Anglo-Saxon philosophers. The first of these two reproaches is, we believe, on the eve of being wiped away; for we learn that Prof. Pritchard' of the Oxford University, to whom (as holding the Chair of Astronomy denied to Halley by Stillingfleet) pertains the honour of compiling so valuable a biography, is preparing for the press a full account of the long life-work of the venerable astronomer. It is to remove the second of these wants that we now would advocate, through the columns of NATURE, the erection of a fitting memorial to our illustrious country- man on the spot which is indissolubly connected with his name, as the scene of his famous achievement. The onerous duties of the astronomer at Capetown have prevented his doing more than suggesting the idea of a monument to Halley and the most appropriate site ; it now remains for us with more leisure at home to forward the idea, and do our utmost to carry out his well-inten- tioned scheme ; nor need we fear that it will be lost sight of and fall to the ground, now that it has been brought forward to the notice of our scientific societies. This recognition of the claim of Halley to his proper place on the roll of English scientific worthies, although somewhat tardy, need not therefore be the less hearty and thorough now that it takes place. It is now some seven or eight years since the Tuscans expended nearly forty thousand pounds in a memorial to their “Divinus Galilzus,” at Florence ;? and in 1874 the preparations for observing the transit of Venus recalled to our minds the hitherto obscure memory of the long-forgotten Jeremiah Horrocks. Surely we need not wait for the advent of the next transit in 1882 to remind the present generation what they owe to the St. Helena observer of 1677. Have we not therefore established the fact that it is desirable to erect a memorial to Halley on the ancient site of his observatory in St. Helena? Receiving in anticipation an affirmative reply from our readers in answer to the question above, we may now approach the next stage of our subject by inquiry as to the form which such a memorial should take; and ‘the fact is that it matters very little in reality whether tablet or bust; whether column, pyramid, or statue be chosen, so long as it is not too ornate. The simplest and most 1 See Monthly Notices, Royal Astronomical Society, December, 1875, p 54 Large materials for a life of Ur. Halley were found among the papers of the late Prof, Rigaud, which will be edited by Prof. Charles Pritchard, M A eee 2 “Tuscan Memorial to Galileo,” by G. F. Rodwell (NATURE, vol. viii. p. 328. August, 1373) Ee 3The sketch of one design has been shown us, consisting of a pyramid whose four sides are inclined at an angle of 70° with the base standing on a podium, which is dodecagonal surrounded with seats. ‘The faces of the pyramid face the card:nal points. Ou the north face is Ursa Major, and on 304 severe design alone will suit the locality, which we will presently describe, and may safely be left to the discretion of a committee of taste by a general meeting of the sub- scribers to the memorial as only a small sum of money need be expended on this object; but Iwe would ask if this alone will appease the manes of Edmund Halley? We must give further explanations. Within sight of Halley’s Mount are zwo disestablished observatories. One, the most important, is that on Ladder Hill, with this inscription over the doorway: “HAC SPECULA ASTRONOMICA Condita fuit AD. MDCCCVII.” This was Johnson’s observatory, broken up when the Imperial Government took the island from the East India Company in 1834. It is now used as a mess-room for the officers, R.A. and R.E., at Ladder Hill.t The other is at Longwood, and was established in 1840 by Sabine as a magnetic and meteorological observatory; this station was broken up in 1845. In front of it on Dead- wood Plain is the base-line measured by Lefroy, 2,986°3 yards in length. The re-establishment of these valuable observing stations would indeed be a lasting memorial such as Halley would approve. Of the fitness of the first-named station as an astronomical observatory, we need only judge from the actual work accomplished there by Johnson and by Gill's appreciation of its position and capabilities. Of the second it will be manifest to all meteorologists, what an advantage such an establishment in the heart of the south-east trades would be to science; whilst Halley’s magnetical researches could be renewed in an island where the atmospherical electricity is so seldom disturbed that lightning conductors are never fitted to the powder magazines, and where distant thunder is heard seldom more than once in a generation.” A few more words may not be out of place to describe Halley’s Mount. Nearly in the centre of the island it commands from its elevation of 2,400 feet, the whole of the northern portion of St. Helena. Four miles looking due north is the northern extremity of the island called Sugar-loaf, and four miles to the right is Dry-gut Bay and Stone-top, whilst the same distance to the left or west, is Bennett’s Point. Throughout the whole of this northern semicircle, the view is bounded only by the sea horizon. Behind us the crateral ridge just under 3,000 feet hides the southern coast, which is d stant only three miles in Sandy Bay. But although this ridge hides the view, it forms a fine background and shelter against the southern winds. Above Halley’s Mount the mountain-tops are covered with indigenous vegetation, shrubby Campanu- laceze, Sczevolez, mosses, lycopods, and arborescent Dicksonias, and the peculiar composite trees with cauli- flower-like blossoms, much the same as when Halley was here two centuries ago; but beneath us, how changed. As Sir Joseph Hooker observed in a lecture on “ Insular Floras,”’ at the Nottingham meeting of the British Association in 1866, in reference to St. Helena :—“ When discovered about 360 years ago, it was entirely covered with forests, the trees drooping over the tremendous precipices that overhang the sea. Now all is changed, fully five-sixths of the island are utterly barren, and by far the greater part of the vegetation which exists, whether herbs, shrubs, or trees, consists of introduced European, American, African, and Australian plants.’? On Halley’s Mount the indigenous and exotic plants meet on equal terms, a fit vegetation to surround a cosmopolitan relic. the south Crux. On the east the inferior planets, and on the west the comet. On the wwelve seats are the signs of the Zudiac (has any one remarked that the conyentional signs of the Zodiac have become a recognised ornamental pattern on the jewellery made by the natives on the west coast of Africa ?) and the names of astronomical workers in the southern hemisphere. * See ‘*Six Months at Ascension,” p. 26. David Gill’s feelings at viewing this degraded observatory, remind us of Halley's disappointment on reaching Greenwich, on his appointment as King’s Astronomer, 1720, and finding that the executors of Flamsteed had removed all the instruments See Whewell’s “* Inductive Science,” vol. ii. Compare also the desolation of Uraniburg. 2 We have not been able to ascertain in which observatory Capt. Foster’s pendulum experiments were carried on between 1828-1831, but we presume n Johnson's observatory; nor are we sure where Maskelyne’s station was. NATURE ea NL [ Fan, 29, .1880 In the present day the most conspicuous features in the landscape of St. Helena, as viewed from the highlands, are the sombre plantations of pinaster (only introduced in 1787), which contrast strongly with the willow-leaved acacias of New South Wales; whilst on all sides are ever wider extending acres of Phormium tenax, grown for the sake of its economical fibre, and whose seeds afford capital fare to the numerous Chinese pheasants which inhabit the covers on the sides of Halley’s Mount. THE U.S. WEATHER MAPS WE are again enabled, through the courtesy of Gen. Myer, of Washington, to present our readers with two Weather Maps of the War Department of the United States, which graphically present the mean pressure and temperature for the whole of the Northern Hemisphere of the earth for April, 1878, and the tracks of the centres of storms for the same month. As these maps are con- structed from the observations of all the stations reporting to the Army Signal Service, they must be held as very accurately representing the meteorology of the period, and they may serve to show the extraordinary energy with which this well-directed meteorological system is conducted and turned to account in the interests of the public and of science. The outstanding characteristic of the weather of 1878 was its extraordinarily high temperature to the east of the Rocky Mountains, chiefly in the upper valleys of the Missouri and Mississippi, and tbe Lakes region, rising in the latter to nearly 11°°0 above the mean of the month. April is one of the months in which the western prairies receive their annual maximum of rain, but during April, 1878, this maximum rose greatly above its normalamount, the rainfall of the basins of the Mississippi and its affluents, with the exception of Ohio, being generously large. In Minnesota the fall was nearly four inches in’ excess of the average. The region of absolutely heaviest rainfall covered a broad track extending from St. Louis, Mo., to Florida. : These characteristics of the distribution of the tem- perature and rainfall were impressively felt in the singular distribution of atmospheric pressure, which everywhere was under the average of April, but most pronouncedly so to the west and north-west of the regions of the extreme excess of temperature and rainfall. The deficiency at Omaha amounted to fully two-tenths of an inch, an unusual deficiency for that region and season. : Turning now to the map of the tracks of the centres of the storms of April, 1878, we observe that most of them group together and lingered longest in this very region of low pressure, and that immediately to the eas? and south=- east lay those regions where temperatures ranged so. unusually high, rain tell so copiously, and thunderstorms played so strikingly brilliant a 7é/e among the weather phenomena of the month. These tracks of the different storm centres admirably illustrate some of the more prominent types of the States” storms. Storm No. I. is seen to branch into two shortly after it began its advance on the States, the one passing northwards and dying out after one day’s course, near the Cumberland River, whilst the other pursued a north- easterly course toward Newfoundland. No. II. originated to the east of Pike’s Peak, and after a two days’ course to north-north-east, was lost sight of in Canada for want of the observations necessary to trace its course over that part of the Dominion. Whilst this storm had its centre over Minnesota, a deep barometric trough ran southward into the Gulf of Mexico—a feature of American storms of no unfrequent occurrence—and the rain area extended eastward over the lakes, the middle, and South Atlantic States, with frequent heavy thunderstorms, accompanied with hail. Storms IV. and V. illustrate the coalescence mh _ ae INTERNATIONAL MONTHLY CHART, i Showing mea., pressure, mean temperature, men: r ; sy pen 5 n force and prevailing direction of wing, , 7:85 A. M., Washington mean time, for the month of April, 1978, based on the daily charts off the International Bulletin. | No. V. ost __o¥t | ie / j { ' eo, > o \% tf 2. r = . + 2 tha Ss = a 5 z Y 7 5 re = eee r a Gels. / = SS <0 ze Tes | Ce Sax : ee CRs Si——$$—=— Sy \e f —_ =e SN I ede APRIL, ss = — - + aS y = === : (Ro 8 —— # | : : = = | BS. 1878. = = | — z 2 Z —— = : = =\ee NS of SS Are k= 28 2 : \ a= \& 2 \ , \ EZ, S| mash \\ y= a i " eo \ pe« 7 hay zo \ \ we e = y, BZ «9, . x Oe a es S =: T |e | es — == VA \ a ¢ 2 Se eas O2/ 7 g en «| Ue *® Y < my 4 | =~ 4 Va y \ on Oo 1 ~ \ Sa ty E Ss \ x l 4 \ = . aay Sag * = « Y Ww AJ = / A t ity S my U7 a 7 Nee & RS as? AP \ = 2, A NS Pat ws 2 = alo" aie S27. see ‘ep a0 IN) 49° s sO o @ ——< . —— s 40° / PREVAILING WINDS. PUBLISHED BY ORDER OF THE SECRETARY OF WAR. | Arrows shows the direction of, and fly with, the wind, : Wa } Force is shown as follows: a kg Veociry. BRIG. GEN, (BVT. AGSG'D) CHIEF SIGNAL OFFICER. U.S. } Syawovs. Foren, - | Miles per | Metres per \ hour. Recor ISOBARS AND ISOTHERMS, Tsobars in bive; detached barometer means in English inches, 4 304 severe de presently of a comn ' scribers t« need be ¢ this alone We must Within observatoi Hill, witt SPECULA This was Imperial ( Company the officer is at Lon as a maj station wa wood Plai . yards in k The re-« would ind: approve. astronomi: actual wor appreciati: second it | advantage south-east magnetica where the that lightr magazines more than A few n Halley’s 1 command: the northe due north Sugar-loat Stone-top, Bennett’s semicircle Behind us the southe Sandy Ba forms a fi winds, A covered w lacez, S« Dicksonia flower-like here two As Sir Jos Floras,”’ Associatio discoverec with fore: precipices fully five-s far the gre herbs, shr American, Mount th: terms, a fi the south Cru On the twelv the conyentio pattern on the the names of * See ‘‘Six this degraded Greenwich, o the executors “* Inductive £ 2 We have pendulum ex) > DN Johnson’s wwoverawwe yy vr eee we oussorauesamamnuayuneis OuMMAuANRaN [tas sere Serene tenes - a SS ea EET i Ee oe “ 305 er in- nilate found ted to The ndths ifteen’ to be 2nded. ders ; { such given Julus ashes novel con- ierva-. layed ‘ON ba . . } ; INTERNATIONAL CHART. q Showing Tracks of Centres of Low Barometer for B - April, 1978. * OFL ost ~ Orr ott ; of Ny h : ‘ y ‘ = wy x ha * : ’ c i RY, i ; : ~ ’ le I” =) 7 . “y § = ta < “ 6 Zs y aS J a <6 ee J Ne \ ; ; < 7 a S. = 7 y Fe [- ee Z wy 7 == of = : Pf *\ Z _ ye \ ey (© ‘ : 7 ——— \ g if if —— = I nw €: & VANS 1 = \ 1 —— { i == = =e F B = = = = : = 2 + Z | = == =| = i) = v — + APRIL, ‘| See 5 : 1878. ae | ? : A ro ss = { ayer ¢ = Ss 5 ‘ i y off = / VALS | a : ore = 54 7 s AN VA at = Ma Ne Za Xo . = Z 4 = = ; SS — 3 Sip pe ASS No : e doubtful, < 304 severe de presently of a comn scribers t: need be « this alone We must Within observatoi Hill, witl SPECULA This was Imperial ' Company the office: is at Lon as a ma station wz wood Pla yards in ] The re-: would ind approve. astronomi actual wo appreciati second it advantage south-east magnetica where the that light magazine: more thar A few n Halley’s | command the northe due north Sugar-loai Stone-top. Bennett’s semicircle Behind us the south Sandy Bz forms a fi winds. / covered v lacez, Sx Dicksonia flower-like here two As Sir Jos Floras,”’ Associatic discoverec with fore precipices fully five-: far the gr herbs, shr American, Mount th terms, a fi the south Cri On the twely the conventic pattern on th: the names of * See ‘* Six this degradec Greenwich, c the executors “« Inductive ! 2 We have pendulum ex n Johnson's * Fan. 29, 1880] NATURE 395 of two storms; storms V. and VI. advanced from the Pacific, crossed California and the Rocky Mountains, and thence swept eastward over the States ; and storm VIII. began its course near Chicago, ran out south-eastward to near Cape Hatteras, and then recurved in the direction of Niagara, where it died out after having traced a course nearly elliptical. It is to an exhaustive treatment of a tolerably large number of instances of these dif- ferent types of storms, that we must look for the key of the mystery of the genesis, progress, and termination of the cyclone which comprehends within itself by far the major portion of all weather changes. Towards this great and perhaps not far distant result, nowhere is any meteorological system making contributions so large and so effective as is Gen. Myer through the munificent liberality of the United States Government. DIFFUSION OF COPPER IN THE ANIMAL KINGDOM « bese fact of the normal presence of minute quantities of copper in various members of the animal king- dom has been noticed by several chemists within the past twenty-five years. Kingzett states that he has invariably found it to be a constituent of the human brain, while Odling and Dupré, and Bergeron and Hété have deter- mined analytically the average amount of copper present in the liver and kidneys of human beings and domestic animals, copper found was about 35 millionths. Some two years since Clocz examined the blood of a deer, and found it to contain 6 millionths of copper. The most interesting instance of the occurrence of copper in the animal crea- tion is, however, that communicated by Prof. Church to the Royal Society in 1869. At this time he was engaged in the investigation of a peculiar, soluble, red colouring matter present in the wings of the Turaco, a bird from the West Coast of Africa. A thorough study of this pigment showed it to contain 5°8 per cent. of copper, and Prof. Church established for it the formula CoH 5g019N Cu. Led to seek the source of this strange factor in the animal economy of the Turaco, he succeeded in detecting copper in the fruit of the M/zsa sapientum, which forms the chief article of the bird’s diet. To these few isolated cases of the normal assimilation of copper in the animal kingdom, Dr. M. Giunti, in the last fascicule of the Gazetta Chimica Italiana (vol. ix, p-541), adds a number of interesting and diversified instances. His attention was first directed to the subject acci- dentally by finding over one-third of 1 per cent. of copper in the guano deposits from bats occurring in certain Italian caves. This led to an analytical examination of the bat, the results of which showed that about four ten- thousandths of the weight of the ashes of this animal consist of cupric oxide. Still bent upon finding a more ultimate source for the metal, Giunti has subjected to analysis quantities of the insects which form the food of the bat, and in all cases he has found copper present in greater or less amount. The quantity would seem to vary in the different orders, families, and species, Aquatic insects contain less than those found on land, and the Coleoptera appear to yield the highest percentage. Thus the ashes of Axomola vitis contain 0°1 per cent. of cupric oxide, and those of Slatta orientalis 0°826 per cent. High as this percentage seems, the amount of copper in an individual insect is infinitesimal, being, in the case of Anomala vitis, less than four-millionths of a gramme, Copper was also detected amongst other Coleoptera (such as Cetonie, Cerambix, Ateucus Sacer, Leurus striatus, and notably the lava of Sril/otalpa) ; amongst Diptera (A/osca domestica), Lepidoptera (Vanessa cardui, Piaris sinapis, Limenites camilla, &c.), and Hymenoptera (2schena maculatissima, Libellula depressa, Calabroni, &c.). In the latter case the average percentage of Giunti has next sought to ascertain whether other in- sectivorous animals besides the bat are wont to assimilate the copper present in their insect prey. This was found to be the case with all members of this class subjected to examination, such as snikes, lizards, urchins, &c. The ashes of the latter contain from one to two ten-thousandths of copper, while the ashes of lizards contain over fifteen’ thousandths. In their case most of the copper is to be found in the skin of the animal. Giunti’s experiments have likewise been extended amongst the invertebrates. Various varieties of spiders; of myriapods, such as /udus terrestris ; of isopods, such as Armadillidium vulgare ; and of snails, have all given affirmative responses to his tests. Amongst these, /ulus terrestris contains the largest amount of copper, its ashes showing a percentage of o'18. The investigations of the Italian chemist in this novel branch of physiological chemistry are still being con- tinued, and it is to be hoped that more extended observa-. tions will inform us of the exact nature of the 7é/e played. by cupric compounds in the animal economy. T. H. NORTON NOTES NExT week we publish an extra number entirely devoted to an account of the life and work of M. Dumas, the eminent’ French chemist, and one of the greatest of living Scientific Worthies, Dr. Hofmann, of Berlin, has been good enough to devote a great deal of time and research to this paper, and has - treated the important subject in such detail that, owing to the pressure on our space at present, it is impossible for us to find room for this long article in the ordinary way, and we are therefore compelled to devote to it an extra number. We are sure our subscribers will give us their willing approval and sup- port in an emergency so very special, and all will doubtless be glad to have this sketch of an eminent French chemist by so eminent a German con/rire. A PAPER has been circulated by the Perpetual Secretary of the Paris Academy giving notice that M. Maindron has been officially commissioned to collect under their authority the archives of the Academy, in a locality belonging to the Institute. Persons possessing documents available for that purpose are requested in the name of science kindly to send them, A fair example has _ been recently given by M. Bornet, whose liberality has been _ publicly acknowledged. M. Etienne Charavay, the expert in autographs, has recovered on behalf of the Institute a number of documents which had belonged to the Academy. THE Society for the Promotion of Hellenic Studies, which was inaugurated in June last, held its second general meeting on Thursday, January 22, at 7, Adelphi Terrace, Mr, C. T. Newton in the chair, when the rules drawn up by the Committee were adopted, the Bishop of Durham elected President, and other officers settled as follows :—Vice-Presidents: Lord Morley, Mr, Justice Bowen, the Dean of St. Paul’s, M. Gannadius, Mr. Newton, Mr. E. Maunde Thompson, the Master of Trinity College, Cambridge, Prof. Colvin, Rev, H. F. Tozer, Prof.Sayce, Prof, Jebb, and Prof. T, K. Ingram. Council: The Bishop of Lincoln, the Dean of Westminster, the Dean of Christchurch, the Rector of Lincoln College, Oxford, Sir John Lubbock (Treasurer), Sir Charles Dilke, Professors Bryce, Hort, Kennedy, Mahaffy, B. Price, H. J. S. Smith, Tyrrell, Messrs. A. J. Balfour, M.P., Oscar Browning, J. Bywater, W. W. Capes, H. O. Coxe, T. Chenery, E. A. Freeman, Percy Gardner, George Macmillan (Hon. Sec.), Ernest Myers, D. B. Monro, J. Cotter Morison, H. F. Pelham, F.C. Penrose, Walter Perry, J. A. Symonds, and Oscar Wilde. the Society, as stated in the outset of the Rules, are :—1, To advance the study of Greek language, literature, and art, The objects of — 306 NATURE [Fan. 29, 1880 and to illustrate the history of the Greek race in the ancient, Byzantine, and Neo-Hellenic periods, by the publication of memoirs and unedited documents or monuments in a journal to ‘be issued periodically. 2. To collect drawings, fac-similes, tran- scripts, plans, and photographs of Greek inscriptions, MSS., works of art, ancient sites and remains, and with this view to invite travellers to communicate to the Society notes or sketches of archeological and topographical interest. 3. To organise means by which members of the Society may have increased facilities for visiting ancient sites and pursuing archeological researches in countries which, at any time, have been the sites of [fellenic civilisation. AMONGST the prizes offered by the Istituto Reale Veneto di Scienze e Lettere at Venice we mention the following :—(r) 1,500 lire (about 58/.) ‘‘for a detailed description of the deter- minations hitherto made of the mechanical equivalent of the heat unit, investigation of causes, &c. ; (2) 3,000 lire (116/.) ‘‘for a representation of the advantages which the application of physics has brought to medical science, and to clinical medicine in par- ticular ;” (3) 3,000 lire ‘‘ for a summary of the recent investiza- tions in theoretical hydrodynamics, followed by a representation of the true and essential progress made in this part of scientific mechanics ;” (4) 3,000 lire ‘‘ for a description of the most recent hypotheses in physical science concerning the phenomena of light, heat, electricity, and magnetism, followed by an indication of the changes which scientific language would have to undergo in order to be in accordance with the best founded theories, this indication to be illustrated by some examples describing some of the principal phenomena,” The competition for the first and fourth of these prize-themes ends on March 31 next, that for the second and third on March 31, 1881. For further details we must refer our readers to the Institution itself, On his passage through Rome, Dr. Gerhard Robhlfs was received in special audience by the King of Italy, who personally decorated the great traveller with the Commander Cross of the Italian Order of the Crown. THE Royal Academy of Sciences at Turin has awarded the Bressa prize for the four years 1875 to 1878, to Mr. Charles Darwin. WE had occasion some time ago to call attention to the excel- fent scientific work which is being carried on at the Carlsberg Laboratory, Copenhagen. This laboratory of research, it will be remembered, was founded and endowed by Mr. J. C. Jacobsen with the intention of aiding, as far as possible, in placing upon a secure scientific basis the technical processes of brewing and malting. We have now before us a Report of the work carried out during the past year, This is published under the title of ‘‘ Meddelelser fra Carlsberg Laboratoriet” by the committee of management appointed by the Royal Danish Academy of Sciences, The original report is in Danish and is accompanied by a very full véswmé in French. We append the titles of the principal papers embodied in the Report :—‘‘Con- tributions 4 la Connaissance des Organismes qui peuvent se trouver dans la Biére et le Moit de Bitre et y vivre,” par E. Chr. Hansen, ‘‘Sur 1’Influence que I’Introduction de I’Air atmo- sphérique dans le Moitit qui fermente exerce sur la Fermenta- tion,” par E. Chr. Hansen, ‘‘Recherches sur les Ferments producteurs de Sucre,” par J. Kjeldahl. (1) Recherches sur la Diastase ; (2) Recherches sur la Ptyaline (Diastase de la Salive). WITH regard to distinguishing artificial from natural butter, M. Donny remarks, in a recent note to the Belgian Academy, that the two behave very differently when heated between 150 and 160 degrees in a capsule or test-tube. At this temperature artificial butter produces very little froth, but the mass undergoes sort of irregular boiling, accompanied by violent jerks which tend to project some of the butter out of the vessel. The mass grows brown, but this is by reason of the caseous matter separat- ing out in clots on the walls; the fatty portion of the sample sensibly retains its natural colour. Natural butter, on the other hand, heated to 150° or 160° produces abundant froth, the jerks are much less pronounced, and the mass grows brown but in a different way. A good part of the brown colouring matter remains in suspension in the butter, so that the whole mass has a characteristic brown aspect similar to that of the sauce called au beurre noir. All natural butters behave thus, and it is strange, M. Donny says, that this simple method of distinguish- ing natural from artificial butter has not been indicated before. A Bopy of Russian savans is expected to go next spring into the Slavonic Balkan provinces to study their geology and ethnographicaliy examine the palaeographic architectural remains, The expenses of this expedition are to be defrayed by the Russian Geographical Society and a Slavonic committee. THE death is announced at New Braunfels, in Texas, of Ferdinand Lindheimer, a German botanist, long settled in Texas, for the botany of which he did much by the valuable collections he made. SEVERAL shocks of earthquake were felt at Havana on the night of January 22, On Sunday last two slight shocks were felt at Carlsruhe. A MuNnICcH correspondent describes an interesting anatomical model recently constructed by Prof. Riidinger of that city. The model represents a whole human body, life-size, which can be taken to pieces in eight different ways. The sixteen section planes thus obtained show most minutely all anatomical details. The model was executed, under the learned professor’s direction, by Messrs. Zeiller. THE Gazette de Lausanne of January 20 publishes a very in- teresting letter by Dr. Forel, on the probability of the Lake of Geneva being frozen during this winter. After having made several measurements on January 15, Dr. Forel proved that the temperature of water throughout the lake (at a certain distance from the shores) was on that day equal to 5°'2 Celsius. Now comparing this figure with the temperature of water measured at various depths on October 23, 1879, he concludes that the water of the lake has lost during eighty-five days no less than thirty calorific units for each square centimetre of its surface, and that it must lose twenty-four units more to reach the temperature of maximum density (4° Celsius), when a superficial freezing might become possible, The laws of freezing are but imperfectly known; but applying to the Lake of Geneva the results of measurements he has made during December last on the frozen Lake Morat, Dr. Forel concludes that the waters of the former lake must lose eight calorific units more to lower the temperature of the water at the surface to the freezing-point. Thus the waters of Lake Leman must lose altogether thirty-two calorific units per square centimetre of surface before any freezing would become possible. The lake having lost but thirty units from October 23 to January 15, we ought to experience a period of cold of the same intensity as that which was experienced during the last three months, for the freezing of the lake. But, accord- ing to the computations of Prof, Plantamour, it would be highly improbable that the cold December of 1879 should be followed by a January as cold as that of 1830, Thus, it is highly improbable that the Lake of Geneva will freeze during this year, but it is possible that the “ Little Lake” (z.¢., its south-western part) might freeze in January. January, however, is near an end, and we have not yet heard of the lake being frozen, THE ice on the Loire continues to occupy the French engineers, The works are preceeding actively but not very ag, these subjects. favourably ; more frosty weather having prevailed the water freezes behind the boats of the men trying to open a channel in the ice-barrier, Immense disasters are anticipated from the thaw if some means are not found to work more effectually. Tt is stated that the block was formed principally in con- sequence of the situation of the bridge of Saumur, which some competent engineers proposed to demolish many years ago as creating a danger on the occasion of inundations. The proposal was renewed during the present crisis without having met with any success. Tue Canal Saint Martin, which is used so largely for provi- sions of Paris, has also been entirely frozen, and the blocks of ice not having melted, as in the Seine, the Director of the City Works is busy in disencumbering it as much as possible. The difficulty is not so much in cutting the ice as in sending it into the Seine by the flood gates, Although having a length of only a few kilometres, the Canal St. Martin has so many locks, that the problem of freeing it is one of the most difficult than can be imagined. Tuis week the Commission of the Municipal Council of Paris will deliberate upon the desirability of continuing the experi- ments on electric lighting in the Avenue de l’Opéra. Since the article by M. de Fonvielle was written, the Siemens brothers have exhibited their lamps on one of the largest confectionery shops on the Boulevard Montmartre. It works very well, and creates some sensation in Paris. AT the last meeting of the St. Petersburg Gardening Society, Prof. Beketoff made an interesting communication on the dis- covery in the government of Ekaterinoslav, in a wild state, of vine-plants and of the Hungarian oak (Quercus cervis). Both are probably degraded plants, affording remarkable specimens of natural transformism. AMONG the numerous bibliographical indexes which have lately appeared in Russia, we notice the ‘‘ Bibliography of works in Finance, Industry, and Trade in Russia, from 1714 to 1870,” by M. Karataeff, which contains a complete systematic list of more than 6,000 books, papers, and newspaper notices on The work has just appeared at St. Petersburg. WE notice in the last number of the Journal of the Russian Chemical and Physical Society, the sixth part of the memoir by Prof. Menshutkin, on the influence of isomerism of acids on the formation of compound ethers. As seen from numerous mea- surements published by the author, the isomerism of acids is of great influence on the absolute and relative rate of etherisation, the primary acids being etherised in from 72 to 120 hours, whilst no less than 336 hours are necessary for the complete etherisation of several tertiary acids. Besides the rate of etherisation decreases also with the increase of the molecular weight. The same journal contains a paper by MM. Beilstein, and Courbatoff on chloranilines and chlornitranilines, and the minutes of the meetings of the Society. THE new French cable for America has been placed at the disposal of the public for correspondence. It goes direct from Brest to St. Pierre, and from St. Pierre to Massachusetts, where it is connected with the American Telegraphic Union. A new cable will be laid from Brest to Penzance by the Faraday steamer, in the beginning of February, and afterwards from Penzance to St. Pierre. This second cable will be used for English telegrams. Ir is stated that a valuable bed of anthracite has been pro- spected at Ching-mén-chow, near Ichang on the Upper Yangtszi- kiang, and that it is already being worked. The coal district is said to extend for seventy-five square miles, and to contain ten beds of coal, one of which, at Wo-tsze-kow, is estimated to NATURE 307 contain 1,200,000 tons, and lying only 100 feet below the surface. THE Cracow newspaper Wiek states that the Cracow Academy proposes to convoke a general congress of historians. THE Forty-sixth Annual Report of the York School Natural History Society is on the whole favourable ; good work has been done in the geological section especially. j THE annual meeting of the Yorkshire Naturalists’ Union was held at Huddersfield on Saturday week, Dr. H. C. Sorby, the president, occupying the chair. There are now twenty-six societies in the Union; Prof. Williamson, of Manchester, was chosen as Dr. Sorby’s successor in the presidency. The latter gave his annual address in the evening on ‘‘The Structure and Origin of Limestones.” We have received a report of a very successful scientific exhi- bition which has been opened for a few days by the enterprising Dundee Naturalists’ Society. We notice from the programme of the Society, that besides lectures by eminent men of science, a number of papers of a thoroughly scientific character, will be read by members of the society during the present session, A BANK, commonly called Hafner, in the Lake of Zurich, and situated at a distance of a few thousand feet from the Mansion House Promenade, is now being minutely investigated by order of the town authorities, It appears that remains of a prehis‘oric pile dwelling are coming to light at this spot, consisting of a quantity of coarse and fine clay vessels, coals, a few bronze implements, &c. The piles upon which the old colony rested are particularly numerous, , THE additions to the Zoological Society’s Gardens during the past week include a Chinese Rhesus Monkey (Macacus lasiotus) from Shanghai, presented by Messrs. John Morris and A. H. Brown ; two Blue-eyed Cockatoos (Cacatua opfthalmica) from the Duke of York’s Island, presented by the Rev. Geo. Brown, C.M.Z.S.; two Martinican Doves (Zenaida martinicana) from Grenada, W.I., presented by Capt. H. King; a Kittiwake Gull (Rissa tridactyla), European, presented by Mr. W. H. Cope, F.Z.S. ; a Common Barn Owl (Strix flammea), European, pre- sented by Mr. G. D. Edwards; a Jaguar (Felis onga) from South America, four Common Peafowls (Puvo cristata) from India, two Knots (Zringa canutus), tour Widgeon (Mareca pene- Tope), 2 Wild Duck (Anas boschas), two Scaup Ducks (Fudigula marila), European, | urchased. OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN PERIODICAL VARIATION IN THE BRIGHTNESS OF NEBULZ.— In 1877, in a communication to the Royal Astronomical Society, Prof. Winnecke drew attention to the nebula H. II. 278, re- marking tbat it appeared to exhibit not only a variability in its light, but, which he considered much more remarkable and diffi- calt of explanation, that /eriodical fluctuations of brightness seemed to take place. A short time since he briefly pointed out a second case of similar character, in the nebula H. I. 20; in the last number of the Astronomische Nachrichten he returns to the subject, and collecting the descriptions of the latter nebula, presents very strong evidence of the variability of its light and indications that it may prove periodical. : H. I. 20 is No. 882 4, and No. 2405 of the General Cata- logue : its position for 1880 is in R.A, 11h, 18m. 13s., N.P.D. 7° 59'°6, or it precedes B.A.C. 3882 by 34°5s., and is 5’ south of the star. A star 12m. follows at 2°8s., 2’"1 to the north. Sir W. Herschel described it as “ very bright” on March 15, 1785. Forty-five years afterwards his son found it ‘‘ extremely faint,” and remarked at the time: ‘‘ This nebula must have changed greatly, if it ever belonged really to the 1st class.” On April 4, 1831, he again found it faint. The next record of its appear- ance was made by Boguslawski, during his preparation of Hour XI. of the Star-charts of the Berlin Academy, when it appears 308 NATURE ss Ea a sn LL. a ee See to have been bright enough to be well seen in the comparatively small telescope used in the formation of the chart (aperture 3°38 inches) ; this would be at the epoch 1840 +. On March 7, 1856, Winnecke found it pretty bright with the Berlin refractor. D’Arrest, on February 19, 1863, noted a considerable diminu- tion of brightness : ‘* Hodie aperte non supra tertiam classem,” and he adds: ‘* Locum hee nebula non mutat, an lucem?” On April 10, 1878, it had again brightened, Winnecke recording : “© Bei hellem Mond, deutlich gesehen, gewiss I, Classe.” On March 21, 1879, he considered it ‘‘ wohl nicht I., aber gut Il, Classe.” This nebula is of the elongated class, the direction of elongation not very far from the parallel; the longest diameter about 13’. It is evidently well deserving of continuous observa- tion. Prof, Julius Schmidt directed attention in 1862 to another very suspicious case in the same quarter of the heavens. The object to which he refers in his communication to the Astrono- mische Nachrichten appears to be H. IV. 4, though he does not mention the identity. Sir W. Herschel, observing on February 22, 1874, describes it as ‘‘extremely faint, small, like a star with a very faint brush s.p. ; 240 shows the star.” It will be remembered that Sir W. Herschel’s fourth class included ‘stars with burs, with milky chevelure, with short rays, remarkable shapes, &c.” Sir John Herschel’s description on-April 13, 1828, does not differ from his father’s; he calls it a ‘‘star 13°(4 m., with a faint, small, nebulous brush.” In the General Catalogue, where it is No. 2403, it is noted ‘‘ very faint, small: attached to a star 13m.” Prof. Schmidt commences his note upon the probable variability of this object by remarking that it is found upon Chart No, 6 of the Bonn Durchmusterung, and must have been seen in the zone-telescope, a Fraunhofer comet-seeker of three inches aperture and two feet focus ; it is No, 2436 at p. 24 in vol. iii, of the Bonn Observations, At the date of his com- munication (1862, March 29) he says: ‘‘ This nebula is at the limit of visibility for the Athens refractor.” He determined the position of the nebula and of two small neighbouring stars as reference to Weisse No. 315, with the following results for 1855'0 :— ,) eps eG hy} ‘ Nebula R.A. 11 16 22'6...Decl.—0 18 36 oe mucleus= ence PMO 20s cy SO720 SOc, 2 03 see NETO 125.00 55 SONZONRt Take ‘ The Bonn position reduced to the same epoch gives R.A. mth. 16m. 28°8s., Decl. —o° 21'°8, agreeing almost precisely with Schmidt’s small star #. There may be a suspicion, there- fore, that the place of greatest condensation of the nebulosity changes, as would appear to be the case with the first variable nebula in Taurus, discovered by Mr. Hind in 1852, according to M. Otto Struve’s observations at Pulkowa, These objects require, and certainly merit, very close observation with ade- quate instruments. ToTAL SOLAR ECLIPSES IN THE NEXT DECADE,—The report of the observation of an intra-Mercurial planet, during the total eclipse of the sun on the 11th inst., from one of the higher mountains in California (which, however, at the time we write, has not received the confirmation that might have been expected), naturally directs attention to the similar opportunities for obser- vation of such a body that are approaching, and we may briefly particularise the circumstances under which the total eclipses of the sun, within the next ten years, will take place. The first is the eclipse of 1882, May 17, where the central line passes over Egypt, not far from Luxor, near Teheran, and so across Asia to Shanghai ; the greatest duration of totality is 1m. 48s., but at the most accessible stations will not exceed Im, I5s.; maps exhibiting the general features of this eclipse are already pub- lished in the Mautical Almanac and the American Ephemeris. Then follows the eclipse of 1883, May 6, in which the course of the central line is wholly on the Pacific Ocean, avoiding appa- rently, with the exception of the Marquesas, the inhabited islands, From the Admiralty chart of this group, it seems that the total phase may be observable at Chanel Island, where it will commence about oh, 42m. local time, continuing 2m. 52s. The eclipse of 1885, September 9, may be well observed in New Zealand, where the sun will have risen to an altitude of fifteen or sixteen degrees, the duration of totality on the central line in the longitude of Wellington being 1m. 54s. Next follows the great eclipse of 1886, August 29, a recurrence of that of 1868, August 17, which was observed in India. Unfortunately in this case we have again an ocean track for the belt of totality, except near the beginning and ending of its course; at the southern extremity of the Island of Grenada the sun will be hidden for 3m. 15s., while at an altitude of about 20°; but in about 14° 13’ west of Greenwich, and latitude 2° 58’ N., where the sun is centrally eclipsed on the meridian, totality will continue for nearly 6m, 30s., and it may be expected that efforts will be made to secure in this part of the Atlantic, at least such observations as bear upon the existence of an intra-Mercurial planet or planets ; when the central line reaches the African coast the duration of total phase will have diminished to about 4m. 45s., in 12° S. latitude, The next eclipse is that of 1887, August 19, which it was supposed for a long time would be total in this country, the central line, however, does not reach England ; commencing in Central Germany, or in 11° 39’ east of Greenwich, and 51° 38’ N., it passes by Berlin and Moscow, to a point in 102° 15’ E., and 53° 46’ N., where the sun will be totally eclipsed on the meridian, and thence to 173° 47' E. and 24° 32’ N., where the central phase passes off the earth; at Berlin, where the sun will only just be clear of the eastern horizon, totality continues Im, 4Is., and in the longitude of Moscow, to the north of the city, 2m, 30s., with the sun at an altitude of 17°; on the shores of Lake Baikal, where he will be near the meridian, the duration of totality is increased to 3m. 38s. The last total eclipse of the decade to which this note applies will take place on December 22, 1889; it may be observed at Bridgetown, Barbadoes, where the sun at an altitude of about 6° will be hidden for 1m, 48s. ; at a point on the Angola coast in about 10° S, tutality will continue 3m. 34s., the central eclipse passes off the earth in 60° 55’ E. and 6° 53’ N. a BIOLOGICAL NOTES BrEs EATING EnTraprepD Motus.—Mr, Packard, jun., writing in the January number of the American Naturalist, says that a flowering stalk of an asclepiad (PAysianthus [Aranja] albens) was brought to him last September, with the bodies of several moths (P/usia precationis) hanging dead from the flowers, being caught by their tongues or maxilla. ‘‘ The-e moths had, in endeavouring to reach the pollen-pockets of the flowers, been caught as if in a vice by one of the opposing edges of the five sets of hard, horny contrivances covering the pollinia.” A very short time afterwards the Rev. L. Thompson, of North Woburn, Mass., a careful observer, sent Mr. Packard the following details of the behaviour of bees (Afis mellifica) also frequenting the flowers of the same asclepiad :—‘‘ My attention was attracted by two or three bees buzzing immediately around as many en- trapped moths that were alive and struggling to get away. Every moment or two a bee suddenly and furiously darted upon a prisoner and seemed to me to stingit, despite its desperate éfforts to escape. This onset was generally instantaneous, but was re- peated again and again; and after a moth became still and apparently lifeless the bee settled upon and, if my eyes did not greatly deceive me, began to devour it.” Mr. Thompson pre- viously noticed tongues of the same species of moth cauvht in the flowers, the bodies to which they belonged having disappeared. At the time he fancied these were probably eaten by birds, buc on further examination he came to the conclusion that the bees had really feasted on animal food, as well as upon the nectar of the surroundi:g flowers. Specimens of these bees being cap- tured, the species was determined by Mr. Packard. On this fact being communicated to Mr, Darwin, he wrote that he “never heard of bees being in any way carnivorous, and the fact is to me incredible, _ Is it possible that the bees opened the bodies of the Plusia to suck the nectar contained in their sto- machs? Such a degree of reason would require confirmation, and would be very wonderful.” Hermann Miiller wrote “ that his brother Fritz in South Brazil has observed that honey-bees (species doubtful) licked eagerly the juice dropping from pieces of meat which had been suspended in the open air to dry; but he thinks nothing has been published on the carnivorous habits of bees.” The well-known apiarian, Prof. A. J. Cook, how- ever, reminds Mr. Packard ‘‘ that honey-hee workers within the hive, on killing off the drones, tear them in pieces with their mandibles rather than sting them, and that he has seen them thus kill a humble-bee that had entered the hive.” Huber, if we mistake not, also tells us that under certain circumstances the common hive-bee will devour the eggs laid by the queen bee. New Mosasaurow REpriLes.—The Mosasauroid Reptiles are so rare in Europe that the famous type specimen described [ Fan. 29, 1880 7 1 ie Fan. 29,1880] NATURE 309 by Cuvier still remains the most perfect yet discovered there, This was the specimen said to have been given up to the French army on the capture of Maestricht, and which is now in the Paris Museum. So much was thonght about it that _ the story goes that the French gunners had orders not to point _ their artillery to that portion of the town where it was known _ to be. In America Prof, O. C. Marsh tells us, the group attained a marvellous development, and was represented by very many genera and species belonging to even diverse families, In a paper in the current number (January) of the American Fournal of Science he gives some new characters of the group, based on the examination of an enormous collection in the museum of | Yale College, which is calcula‘ed to contain the remains of not less than 1,400 distinct individuals. In not a few of these the skeleton is nearly if not quite complete, so that every part of its structure can be determined with almost absolute certainty. Already from this immense storehouse has Prof. Marsh made out various important details of the anatomy of the group. In the present paper he communicates several others which had escaped other observers. Several specimens, one of which is figured, prove the presence of a sternum which is of the true lacertilian type. The entire pectoral arch and paddles in several genera are described ; the general structure of the paddles is Cetacean in type; hyoid bones have been found. In some genera the orbit was protected by a ring of osseous plates, composed of but a single row of plates overlapping; the transverse bone of Cuvier (ecteopterygoid, Owen) is present in several of the genera, The accuracy of Cuvier’s determination of the pterygoid bones can no longer be called in question ; Cope errs in calling them palatines. All these newly-discovered characters and facts indi- cate a true lacertilian alliance, and a new sub-order of lizards should be formed, to be called Mosasauria. New ENGLAND Isopops.—In the Proceedings of the United States National Museum (November 5, 1879) Oscar Harger briefly describes the marine isopods collected by the United States Commission of Fish and Fisheries, Fuller descriptions with figures of most of the species are promised later. As new species are described Yanira spinosa, from Banquereau, and Lep- tochela rapax, from Aunisquam. There are forty-three species enumerated, of which eleven are to be found on the coasts of Europe. THE Fossit Horses or CoNSTANTINE. —Veterinary Surgeon P. H. Thomas has quite recently published an interesting account of the remains of some fossil horses found in the neigh- bourhood of Constantine, in Algeria. It will be remembered that the environs of Constantine are traversed by large and deep valleys, on the flanks of which, as far as an elevation seldom exceeding 600 metres, the stripes of a fluvial-lacustrine pliocene formation lie stratified. These, at their base, are characterised by the presence of a chalky marl, and towards their summits by gritty conglomerates, pudding-stones, and sand ; the fluvial lacus- trine deposits contain a somewhat transition fauna-composed of some ot the larger vertebrates, amongst which two species of horse have been found, one an Hip;arion and one very near to, if not identical with, the Zguzs stenonis (Gaudry), of the pliocene of Europe. In the bottom of these valleys, at the base of the steep banks of the larger rivers, turfy deposits are found, apper- taining in all probability to a recent quaternary period in which a fauna appears—which, though showing some affinities to the previously-nientioned fauna, is more clearly connected with that actually existing. Here are to be found remains of a horse (Zgzus caballus) differing by only a few secondary characters from the actually living African horse ; an ass of small dimensions, presenting in its dentition some characters calling to mind the genus Mipparion, which genus had, however, disappeared since the preceding geological period. In the grey mar] which imme- diately lie over the alluvial turf, and which appear to be very recent, there will be found in the lowest strata the remains of horses, horned cattle, and molluscs, differing in no way from those of the present day. In a middle stratum remains of flint weapons have been found (at about 2°50 m, from the surface of the soil), while at about 1 metre below this surface, vestiges of _ the Roman occupation will be met with. | SE EE eee eee ee Cot PHYSICAL NOTES MEASUREMENTS of the movements of glaciers have hitherto been directed either to approximate determination of the yearly or daily mean velocity, or to showing that the motion of glaciers resembles that of liquids. Some new measurements by Herr Koch and Fr. Klocke (Wied. Ann., No. 12) have been limited to ascertaining the motion of a point of the surtace in a vertical plane parallel to the direction of length of the glacier, with a view to finding the real nature of the glacier’s progress, whether continuous and in the same direction or not. Two scales were placed, one vertical, the other horizontal, being attached to a _ post, fixed half a metre deep in the ice, and having a cone of ice and a@ébris formed round it, This was on the west side of the Morteratsch glacier, about 14 km, from its principal extremity. The observations were made in August and September, the seales being watched by day only, through a fixed telescope with cross-wires. The number of scale parts passing the cross gave the direct and horizontal components of the motion. Another similar post with scales was set up near, and in the field of vision, ‘The observations proved that the motion of the glacier is by no means uniform, for one and the same point may move now upwards, now downwards, towards the mountain, or towards the valley. Further, two points of the surface, about 50 to 60 metres separate from each other, may, at the same time, move in different, and even in opposite directions. THE behaviour of membranes in sounding columns of air has been recently investiyated by Herr Koblrausch (Wied. Ann., No. 12), and with the following results (which sufficiently indi- cate the line of research) :—1, Open membranes (freely in con- tact with the air on both sides) vibrate in the ventral segments of stationary waves, and come to rest in the nodes; covered membranes (shut off from the external air on one side) vibrate in the nodes and come to rest in the ventral segments. 2, A fine open membrane stretched over a ring is a very sensitive means of determining the position of the nodes iu stationary waves. 3. If a solid body be brought between two nodes of the stationary vibrations of a pipe, the half-wave between these two nodes contracts, while the others are lengthened, and the pipe gives a tone corresponding to the longer half-waves, consu- quently a deeper one, From a comparison of the temperature co-eflicients of fluidity and galvanic conductivity for a number of substances (Wed. Ann., No. 12), Herr Grotrian finds that with increasing concen- tration of a solution, both coefficients vary in the same sense. In solutions of NH,Cl, KCl, KBr, and KI, the galvanic con- ductivity increases nearly in proportion to the percentaye pro- portion. The fluidity, on the other hand, varies but little with the concentration. A SLIGHT improvement has been introduced into the Bunsen grease-spot photometer by Herr Toepler (Wied. Ann., No. 12), rendering the observations much less dependent on the position of the observer (the angle between his line of sight and the paper screen), The vrease spot is done away with, and the thickness of paper is reduced instead, to give a spot. Between two very thin moderately transparent sheets of parchment paper, having a small circular aperture, is placed a shect of ordinary strong paper. Dr. BAUMGARTNER has recently made, in Prof. Pfaundler’s laboratory (Wied. Ann., No. 12), a series of determinations of the specific heat of water by a method of mixtures, in which boiling water was poured directly into the cold water of the calori- meter. The specific heat at 100° (that at o° = 1) was found 1°0307 (as against 1°0130 by Regnault ; 1°0220 Reynault, according to Bosscha’s calculations, 1 0302 v. Miinchhausen and Wiillner, 10720 Heinrichsen, 1°1220 Jamin and Amaury, 1°1255 Marie Stamo). Tue telephone has been found by Herr Niemdller (Wied. Ann.) capable of determining very quickly and accurately the resistance of liquids. It is substituted for the galvanometer in a galvanic bridge, and an induction current is used; then, if the resistances compared are a large liquid resistance on the one hand, and a Siemens’s resistance-box on the other, so that the electro-dynamic constants of the branches are very small; if, further, a German-silver or platinum wire be used as measuring wire, it is found that in the position where the galvanometer shows no deflection, the tone in the telephone has a well-marked minimum of intensity, Supposing the liquid resistance has 2,000 units, a variation of it, even four units, reveals itself in a displacement of the minimum position. For study of liquid waves Signor Bazzi lately used (N. Cim. (3) 6, p. 98) a trough 6 m, long, Io ctm. deep, and 5 ctm. wide. Tn one end of it dipped a wooden parallelepiped, which could 310 be moved up or down in guides, and served to produce waves. A movable apparatus indicated on a cylinder the movements of the surface at any point; the moment of immersion was also indicated, The following results were arrived at:—1. If the body be drawn out and a wave of depression produced, a whole series of other waves follows this, which are of gradually decreasing height. 2. Both the primary and the secondary waves are, from a certain distance from the origin onwards, propagated with uniform velocity, which, for the same depth, is independent of the mode of the immersion. The first primary wave has the greatest velocity ; it coincides with that resulting from Lagrange’s calculations. The velocity of the others decreases from wave to wave, so that their length increases proportionally to the distance from the origin. 3. The depth of the first wave is proportional to the volume brouzht out of the position of equilibrium ; and it decreases inversely as the square root of the distance from the origin (this corresponds to Boussinesq’s development), 4. The profile of each secondary wave is a sinusoid, but that of the primary is much more complicated. These results are in con- tradiction to nearly all analytical results on wave motion. The author is prosecuting his inquiry further. IN an interesting memoir presented to the Belgian Academy, on the influence of the form of masses on their attraction, M. Lagrange arrives at the following theorem, which he considers as funda- mental for the mechanical theory of crystallisation : A mass of any form, at a distance from its centre of inertia, acts with maxi- mum, mean, and minimum energies in three rectangular directions, and these directions coincide respectively with the three axes of maximum, mean, and minimum inertia of the mass; the attraction diminishing the more rapidly the less the mass in question. M. Lagrange offers some preliminary considerations on the structure of bodies, and one curious consequence of his formulz is that the molecules of a body are not always distributed symmetrically with regard to the three rectangular directions, owing to the in- fluence of certain secondary axes of attraction, which is combined with that of the principal axes of inertia. The principal modes of crystallisation of bodies seem to M, van der Mensbrugghe (who reports on the memoir), in perfect harmony with the classification of molecular groups, (1) according to their principal axes of inertia, (2) according to their secondary axes of attraction, M. Lagrange promises, in an early work, a complete solution of the problems of crystallisation of | o lies. M. THOLLON has recently observed, by the aid of his spectro- ‘scope of high dispersive power, a solar protuberance whose height equalled one-sixteenth of the diameter of the sun, or about 55,000 miles. HERR EDELMANN describes, in Carl’s Refertorium, a novel quadrant electrometer in which the needle, instead of being a flat plate, consists of two quadrants cut vertically from a cylinder. This swings concentrically within another cylinder slit into four quadrants, which replace the usual pairs of flat quadrantal plates. The needle and its attached mirror are supported by a bifilar suspension, and the charge is given to the needle by con- necting the cup of concentrated sulphuric acid, into which it dips, with the pole of a Zamboni pile. This latter arrangement is simpler than the usual replenisher and gauge of the well- known Thomson electrometers, but cannot be anything like as reliable, Herr B6TTGERr describes a process for steeling copper plates by electrolysis. 100 parts of ferrous-ammonia sulphate, together with 50 parts of sal-ammoniac, are dissolved in 500 parts of pure water, a few drops of sulphuric acid being added to acidu- late the solution. The copper plate connected to the negative pole of a battery of two or three Bunsen elements, an iron plate of equal size being employed as an anode. The solution is maintained at from 60° to 80%. The deposit of iron is of a hard steel-like quality, and is very rapidly formed. AN acoustico-electrical kaleidoscope, the invention of M, Michelangiolo Monti, is mentioned in Zes Mondes, It consists of a microphone used in conjunction with an induc ion-coil and a Geissler tube, and is like Edmunds’s phonoscope, which it resembles, intended for the optical study of sounds. A complete description of the instrument is not, however, given. Pror, GRAHAM BELL communicated a notice of ‘‘Some Ex- periments relating to Binaural Audition” to the recent meeting of the American Association for the Adva. cement of Science. The paper, which contains some extremely valuable observations, NATURE \ GEOGRAPHICAL NOTES ; In _opening the proceedings of the Geographical Society on Monday evening, Lord Houghton read a letter from Sir Bartle Frere, in which he spoke in the highest terms of Dr. Emil Holub as the most competent traveller he had met for a long time, and in which he also expressed the opinion that, with the exception of a very small portion, the Valley of the Zambesi was well suited for Europeans in regard to climatic conditions, After an amusing sketch of his early experiences in South Africa, and a brief account of his two preparatory journeys, Dr. Holub delivered an address, describing vividly and in considerable detail his main journey, which occupied twenty-one months, from the Diamond Fields to the upper waters of the Zambesi. Among other matters, he thus explained how the River Zooga flows at one time to the east and at another to the west. When the Shallow Lake Ngami is filled up by the streams falling into it from the west, its waters pass through the Zooga to the salt lakes on the east, but when these streams do not pour in such an amount of water, the level of the lake becomes very low,]and the Zooga, often largely increased in volume from the over- flowing salt lakes, sends its waters into Lake Ngami, This solution of a curious phenomenon agrees, we believe, with the conclusion arrived at by Major Serpa Pinto. Dr. Holub dwelt for some time on the Marutse Empire, which he considered to be some 400 miles long and 450 broad, and the languages and customs of which he had ample opportunities for studying from his prolonged stay at Shesheke. When examining the country to the north of this place, Dr. Holub was unfortunately prostrated by severe illness, which compelled him to give up all further explorations in this interesting region. He made his return journey through the western Makalaka region of the Mata- bele country, about which he gave many particulars. Dr. Holub exhibited a very carefully drawn chart which he had made of part of the course of the Zambesi, and gave some information respecting his various collections. These include ethnographical objects, a large number of skins of birds and animals, fishes, insects, reptiles, &c., besides numerous botanical specimens. Dr. Holub hopes that before long he may have an opportunity o' exhibiting his collections in London. : WE have received the first number of the new Zeitschrift fiir wissenschaftliche Geographic, edited .by Herr J. I. Kettler, of Lahr, in Baden, assisted by an imposing staff of German geo- graphers. We expected great things from this new journal, judging from the prospectus to which we referred some weeks ago; but we confess this first number disappoints us. Fifteen pages are devoted to a discussion of the first landing-point of Columbus, by Dr. R. Pietschmann, surely a great waste of space in a journal that professes to devote itself to scientific geography. The editor takes up seven pages with an article on the position of Brunswick ; the old story of Severstoft’s Ferghona expedition is related, and Dr. O. Krummel reproduces his discussion of the mean depths of the ocean, which has gone the round of the journals long ago. Behm’s Jahrbuch for 1879, now out of date almost, is reviewed, end some old letters of Humboldt’s are given, interesting only on the writer’s account. An elaborate series of small charts are the only maps given, illustrating the paper on Columbus's landing-point. We trust the succeeding numbers will be both more scientific and more novel, else the new journal can scarcely justify its existence. Last week the French expedition commissioned to explore the Sahara in connection with the proposed railway left Paris for Marseilles, whence it will sail for Algeria, The expedition will devote its attention mainly to the country south of Wargla, which is too imperfectly known at present to enable a decision to be come to as to the precise route which the railway ought to take. The expedition is under the command of Lieut.-Col. Flatters, who is accompanied by an efficient scientific staff of engineers and others. They will be accompanied by an escort of trustworthy frontier Arabs. At the last meeting of the Paris Society of Commercial Geography, M. Masqueray, the Saharan explorer, gave some interesting information concerning the land of Adrar, in the Western Sahara. This he derived from three pilgrims on their way to Mecca, who had been plundered in the desert, and supplied with funds by the French Government in Algiers to continue their pilgrimage. On their return they have promised to conduct the French explorer to their country. Adrar, or Aderer, presents two or three of the chief aspects of the will be published #7 extenso in the American Fournal of Otology. | Sahara, which is by no means the universal desert at one time (Fan. 29, 1880, ~~ Fan, 29, 1880] NATURE 311 supposed, In the south-west are long bands of sand, not ex- ceeding eight days’ march in width. Adrar-Temar, the country of the travellers, is placed like a long and narrow island between two of these bands of sand. It is an almost level region, slightly elevated above the sands, which tend to encroach upon its borders. Intermittent streams are found in the country, and there are numerous towns or large villages, containing a consi- derable population, The three pilgrims represent their country as covered with gum-acacias, and ostriches greatly abound. The most important commercial fact in connection with Adrar is the existence at Ijil of an immense deposit of rock salt, which, as we advance towards the country of the negroes, becomes the most valuable article of trade. Tichu (? Tishit), some days’ journey to the south-east of Ijil, is the principal market for the trade in salt, for which slaves are the principal exchange. Herr CLEMENS DENHARDT, who has just returned to Germany from an exploring tour in Eastern Central Africa, has received a tt of 500 marks (20/.) from the Gesellschaft fiir nea at Berlin, to defray the cost of publishing his notes of travel. M. GRANDIDIER, the explorer of Madagascar, has been ap- inted president of the governing body (Section Centrale) of the Paris Geographical Society for 1879. Admiral La Ronciére Le Nourry has been continued president of the Society. The Geographical Society of Paris is preparing to hold a reception when Prof. Nordenskjéld arrives in France ; but the first step will be taken by the Society of Marseilles, the city at which Nordenskjéld will land from Naples, according to all probability. WE learn from the last number of the /svestia of the Russian Geographical Society that the expedition of M. Pyevtsoff to Mongolia was very successful. M, Pyevtsoff, after having stayed seven days at Koukou-khoto, started for Kalgan (in the south-east part of the Gobi steppe) where he remained for two months, studying the trade of China with Mongolia. Thence the expedition went to Urga, and from Urga to Ulassontai, following thus a route which never was before explored. From Ulassoutai M. Pyevtsoff turned west to the Chuyra river, which was reached at Kosh-agach; this route was quite unknown until now. On the whole thousand miles’ distance between Urga and Kosh-agach the expedition made a survey, and M. Pyevtsoff determined the latitudes and longitudes of twelve points. On the whole the expedition has made, on its way from Khobdo to Kalgan and thence to Kosh-agach, no less than 2,700 miles of surveys, and determined astronomically the position of twenty- six points, all longitudes being determined as well by chrono- meters as by the occultations of stars, Barometrical measure- ments were made during the whole journey, and very rich zoological, botanical, and mineralogical collections were obtained. THE St. Petersburg Geographical! Society has received news from Col. Prjvalsky, v@ Pekin. The intrepid traveller has safely arrived at Zaidam, on the Tibetian frontier, after having crossed the hitherto unknown country from Hami zi@ Shatsheu to Zaidam. From the latter place he will proceed to the interior of Tibet. News has also been received from the chief of the so- called Samara Expedition, referring to the readiness of the Chiwinz tribe to restore the old course of the Amu Darya by destroying the dykes on the lower part of the river, The expe- dition sent out by the Russian Government Office for Communi- cations, under Col, Gluchowski, and charged with the investiga- tion of the lower course of the Amu Darya, with a view to rendering it navigable in future, also begins to show signs of activity. Tue “Karl Stangen’sche Reisebureau,” at Berlin, will publisha description of its first journey round the world (1878-79) early in March, this description to serve as a guide for future journeys and intending tourists. THE EFFECTS OF UNINTERRUPTED SUN- LIGHT ON PLANTS ROF. SCHUBELER of Christiania,-who for nearly thirty years has been engaged in observing the influence exerted by differences of climate on vegetation, has published the result of his observations in recent numbers of our Norwegian namesake, Naturen. The first of the series of his observations, which he has given in detail, refer to winter- wheat, and were undertaken with the special view of noting what effect the almost unbroken sunlight of the short Scandi- navian summers had on plants raised from foreign seed, The experiments were made with samples of grain from Bessarabia and Obio, and in both cases it was found that the original colour of the grain gradually acquired each year a richer and darker colour —the difference being perceptible even in the first year’s crop— until it finally assumed the yellow-brown tint of other home- grown Norwegian winter-wheats. Similar results were obtained with maize, different kinds of garden and field peas and beans, and certain other garden plants, as celery, parsley, &c. In no case has Dr. Schiibeler found that an imported plant, capable of being cultivated in Norway, loses in intensity of colour after continued cultivation; while in regard to many of the common garden flowers of Central Europe, he believes it may be asserted with certainty, that after their acclimatisation in Norway, they acquire an increase of size, as well as an augmentation of colour. These altered conditions are more forcibly manifested the further north we go, within the limits of capacity of vegetation for different plants. Thus it has been observed by Prof. Wahlberg of Stockhclm, that Zpi/obium angustifolium, Lychnis sylvestris, Geranium sylvaticum, and many other plants common to Lapmark and the more southern districts of Sweden, attain in the former a size and brilliancy of tint unknown in the latter. The change in the case of Veronica serpyllifolia and Trientalis europea is remarkable ; the former changing as it goes further north from a pale to a dark blue, and the latter from white to rose-pink. It is noteworthy that a tinge of red is a common characteristic of the vegetation of ‘the Scandinavian Fjzlds ; this being observable alike in blue, yellow, green, and white colours. Colour is not, however, the only property affected by the unbroken continuance of daylight in the summers of Scandinavia, for according to Dr. Schiibeler, the aroma of all wild and cultivated fruits, capable of cultivation in the northern lands, is much greater than that of the same fruits when grown in more southern countries, This is especially observable in regard to strawberries, cherries, and the various kinds of wild marsh and wood berries. In corroboration of this, Prof, Fliickiger of Strass- burg has found that the Norwegian juniper yields a much larger amount of essential cil than can be obtained from the shrub when grown in Central Europe. This excess of aroma in northern plants and fruits co-exists with an inferior degree of sweetness ; thus the commen golden-drop plum, and the green- gage of Christiania, or Throndhjem, although large, well- coloured, and rich in aroma, are so deficient in sweetness as to seem unripe to those who have eaten these fruits in France, or Southern Germany. Dr. Edmond Géze, who has long been resident at Coimbra, informs Dr. Schiibeler, that his observations on the fruits of Portugal enable him to corroborate that observer’s opinion in regard to the different conditions on which aroma and sweetness respectively depend. The strawberries grown in large numbers near Coimbra are, he says, of great size, extremely sweet, but almost wholly deficient in aroma and flavour. The same remark refers to the Portuguese wines, when compared with the highly flavoured yields of the Rhenish and other northern vineyards ; and a consideration of these varying conditions leads him to accept as an established fact, that light bears the same relation to aroma, as heat does to sweetness. This increase of aroma, or intensification of flavour, due to the uninterrupted action of the sun’s light, has the effect of making some of our most savoury garden plants almost uneatable in Scandinavia. Thus Dr. Schiibeler has found that common white stick-celery, which had been grown near Christiania with careful attention to the methods followed in England, and which in outward appearance could not be distinguished from plants brought direct from Covent Garden Market, had a sharp unpleasant taste, when compared with the milder and more agreeably flavoured English plants. The same result was observed in garlick, shalots, and onions, and although it must be admitted that as the expressions of mere individual taste, the writer’s conclusions in regard to this point are open to doubt, it should at the same time be borne in mind that they are based on practical observations and experiments, continued for nearly thirty years, and confirmed by the concurrent testimony of several of his colleagues, who, like himself, were desirous of deducing practical results from the acclimatisation of plants in Norway. From this point of view, some of Dr. Schiibeler’s observations are especially interesting, and in the present low condition of Norwegian industrial development, their practical SEF NATURE | "5! “it oe lane » ' 4 Loe [Fan. 29, 1880 application would be highly important. Thus, he shows that while linseed oil is obtained in Holland, Germany and Middle Russia in the proportion of about 3 or 4 p. ¢. of the weight of the plants from which it is extracted, the yield from uncul- tivated plants in Norway varies from 4 to 5, or 5 to 8 per cent. Again his experiments of the yield of the essential oil of lavender, have convinced him, that plants grown in Christiania or Throndhjem, when compared to those grown near Merton, which have hitherto been regarded as the first in the world, greatly excel the latter in aroma, and he considers that the cultivation of this plant could be carried on with undoubted success on the coast-lands of Norway. While Dr. Schiibeler has no hesitation in maintaining that light engenders aroma, as heat engenders sweetness, he has not been able to determine to what extent the vegetable alkaloids are affected by either. In connection with his own observations, he reports some curious particulars in regard to the action of con- tinuous light in the polar regions, which he has obtained from intelligent residents, who had undertaken to conduct certain experiments under his direction. Thus it was found both at Alten in West Finmark, and at Stamsund in the Lafodens, that plants of Acacia lophantha never contracted their leaves during the two months, or longer, that the sun remained above the horizon. An experiment was made at Alten to shade one half of the crown of an acacia during the night, and the result was that in about twenty minutes’ time, the protected leaves beyan to contract, and remained closed until the plant was again wholly exposed to the midnight-sun, when after a time the leayes began slowly to unfold. At Stamsund it was observed that whenever the acacias were placed on the north side of a house, which was partially screened by a neighbouring Fjzld, the leaflets turned upwards, without however wholly closing, and the same thing was noticed in rainy weather. The leaves of Afimosa pucica contracted in the lizhtest and clearest nights, and remained folded back for some hours, Withouw entering further into the details of Dr. Schiibeler’s numerous experiwents, we may summarise their results as follows :— 1. The grain of wheat, that has been grown in low lying lands, may be propagated with success on the high Fjzlds, and will reach maturity earlier at such elevations, even although at a lower mean temperature, Such grain, after having been raised for several years at the highe-t elevation which admits of its cul- tivation, is found when transferred to its original locality to ripen earlier than the other crops which had not been moved, The same result is noticeable in grain that has been transported from a southern to a more northern locality, and vice versa. 2. Seeds imported from a southern locality, when sown within the limits compatible with their cultivation, increase in size and weight, and these same seeds, when removed from a more northern locality to their original southern home, gradually diminish to their former dimensions, A similar change is observable in the leaves and blossoms of various kinds of trees and other plants. Further, it is found that plants raised from seed, ripened ina northern locality, are hardier, as well as larger than those grown in the south, and are better able to resist excessive cold. 3. The further north we go—within certain fixed limits—the more energetic is the development of the pigment in flowers, leaves and seeds, Similarly, the aroma, or flavour of various plants or fruits, is augmented in intensity the further north they are carried within the limits of their capacity for cultivation, conversely, the quantity of saccharine matter diminishes in proportion as the plant is carried further northward. MYTHOLOGIC PHILOSOPHY} 1. THE GENESIS OF PHILOSOPHY.—The wonders of the course of nature have ever challenged attention. In savagery, in barbarism, and in civilisation alike, the mind of man has sought the explanation of things. The movements of the heavenly bodies, the chanye of seasons, the succession of night and day, the powers of the air, majestic mountains, ever-flowing rivers, perennial springs, the flight of birds, the gliding of serpents, the growth of trees, the blooming of flowers, the forms of storm-carved rocks, the mysteries of life and death, the insti- tutions of society—many are the things to be explained. The yearning to know is universal. ow and why are ever- * From Vice-Presidential Address of Prof. J. W. Powell, of Washington, Vice-President Section B, American Association for the Advancement of Science, Saratoga Meeting, August, 1879, lasting interrogatories profoundly instinct in humanity. In the evolution of the human mind the instinct of cosmic interrogation follows hard upon the instinct of self-preservation, ; In all the operations of nature man’s weal and woe is involved. A cold wave sweeps from the north, rivers and lakes are frozen, forests are buried under snows, and the fierce winds almost con- geal the life fluids of man himself, and man’s sources of supply under the rocks of water. At another time the heavens are as brass, and the clouds come and go with mockery of unfulfilled promises of rain, the fierce midsummer sun pours its beams upon the sands, and scorching blasts heated in the furnace of the desert sear the vegetation, and the fruits, which in more con- genial seasons are subsistence and luxury, shrivel before the eyes of famishing men, A river rages and destroys the adjacent valley with its flood, A mountain bursts forth with its rivers of hell, the land is buried, and the people are swept away. Lightning shivers a tree and rends a skull. The silent, unseen powers of nature, too, are at work bringing pain or joy, health or sickness, life or death to mankind. In like manner, man’s welfare is involved in all the institutions of society. How and why are the questions asked about all these things— questions springing from the deepest instinct of self-preservation. In all stages of savage, barbaric, and civilised inquiry, every question has found an answer, every ow has had its ‘Aus, every why its because. The sum of the answers to the questions raised by any people constitute its philosophy; hence all people have had philosophies consisting of their accepted explanation of things. Such a philosophy must necessarily result from the primary instincts developed in man in the early progress of his differentiation from the beast. This I postulate; if demonstra- tion is necessary, demonstration is at hand, Not only has every people a philosophy, but every stage of culture is characterised by its stage of philosophy. Philosophy has been unfolded with the evolution of the human understanding, The history of philosophy is the history of human opinions from the earlier to the later days—from the lower to the higher culture. In the production of a philosophy phenomena must be discerned, phenomena must be discriminated, phenomena must be classified. Discernment, discrimination, and classification are the processes by which a philosophy is developed. In studying the philosphy of a people at any stage of culture, to understand what such a people entertain as the sum of their knowledge, it is necessary that we should understand what phe- nomena they saw, heard, felt—discerned ; what discriminations they made, and what resemblances they seized upon as a i for the classification on which their explanations rested, A philosophy will be higher in the scale, nearer the truth, as the discernment is wider, the discriminations nicer, and the classifi- cation better. The sense of the savage is dull compared with the sense of the civilised man. There is a myth current in civilisation to the effect that the barbarian has highly-developed perceptive faculties, It has no more foundation than the myth of the wisdom of the owl, A savage sees but few sights, hears but few sounds, tastes but few flavours, smells but few odours, his whole sensuous life is narrow and blunt, and his facts, that are made up of the com- bination of sensuous impressions, are few. In comparison the civilised man has his vision extended away toward the infinitesimal and away toward the infinite; his per- ception of sound is multiplied to the comprehension of rapturous symphonies ; his perception of taste is increased to the enjoy- ment of delicious viands ; his perception of smell is developed to the appreciation of most exquisite perfumes ; and the facts that are made up of his combination of sensuous impressions are multiplied beyond enumeration, The stages of discernment, from the lowest savage to the highest civilised man, constitute a series, the end of which is far from the beginning. bet If the discernment of the savage is little, his discrimination is less, All his sensuous perceptions are confused, but the con- fusion of confusion is that universal habit of savagery—the con- fusion of the objective with the subjective, so that the savage sees, hears, tastes, smells, feels the imaginings of his own mind. Subjectively determined sensucus processes are diseases in civilisation, but normal functional methods in savagery. — The savage philosopher classifies by obvious resemblances— analogic characters. The civilised philosopher classifies by essential affinities—homologic characteristics ; and the progress of philosophy is marked by changes from analogic categories to homologic categories. a “ei ‘ 4 _, Fan. 29, 1880] 2, Teo Grand Stages of Philosophy.—There are two grand stages of philosophy—the mythologic and the scientific. In the first, all phenomena are explained by analogies derived from subjective human experiences; in the latter, phenomena are * explained as orderly successions of events. In sublime egotism man first interprets the cosmos as an extension of himself; he classifies the phenomena of the outer world by their analozies with subjective phenomena; _ his measure of distance is his own pace, his measure of time his own sleep, for he says, ‘‘It is a thousand paces to the great rock,” or, ‘ It is a thousand sleeps to the yreat feast.” Noises are voices, powers are hands, movements are made afoot. By subjective examination discovering in himself will and design, ‘and by inductive reason discovering will and design in his fellow-men and in animals, he extends the induction to all the cosmos, and there discovers in all things will and design. All phenomena are supposed to be the acts of some one, and that some one having will and purpose, In mythologic , hilosophy, the phenomena of the outer physical world are supposed to be the acts of living, willing, designing personages, The simple are compared with and explained by the complex. In scientific philosophy, phenomena are supposed to be children of antecedent phevomena, and so far as science goes with its explanation, they are thus interpreted. Man with ‘the subjective phenomena gathered about him is studied from an _ objective point of view, and the phenomena of subjective life are relegated to the categories established in the cla-sification of the phenomena of the outer world; thu. the complex is studied by resolving it into its simple constituents. Some examples of the philusophic methods belonging to widely separated grades of culture may serve to make my statewents clearer. Wind.—The Ute philosopher discerns that men and animals breathe. He recognises vaguely the phenomena of the wind and discovers its resemblance to breath, and explains the winds by relegating them to the class of breathings. He declares that there is a monster beast in the north that breathes the winter winds, and another in the south, and another -in the east, and another in tke west. The facts relating to winds are but partially discerned ; the philosopher has not yet discovered that there is an earth surrounding atmosphere. He fails also in making the proper discriminations. His relegation of the winds to the class of breathings is analogic, but not homologic, The basis of his philosophy is personality, and hence he has four wind yods, The philosopher of the ancient Northland discovered that he could cool his brow with a fan, or kindle a flame, or sweep away the dust with the wafted air. The winds also cooled his brow, the winds also swept away the dust, and kindled the fire into a great conflagration, and when the wind blew he said, **Somebody is fanning the waters of the fiord,” or ‘‘ Somebody is fanning the evergreen forests,” and he relegated the winds to the cla:s of fannings, and he said, ‘‘ The god Hraesvelger, clothed with eagle plumes, is spreading his wings for flight, and the wind. rise from under them,” ’ The early Greek philosopher discovered that air may be imprisoned in vessels or move in the ventilation of caves, and he . recognised wind as something more than breath, something more than fanniny, something that can be gathered up and scattered abroad, and so when the winds blew he :aid, ‘* The sacks have been untied,” or, *‘ The caves have been opened.” The philosopher of civilisation has discovered that breath, the fan wafted breeze, the air confined in vessels, the air moving in ventilation, that these are all parts of the great body of air which surrounds the earth, all in motion, swung by the revolving earth, heated at the tropics, cooled at the poles, and thus turned into counter currents and again deflected by a thousand yéographic featuies, so that the winds sweep across valleys, eddy among mountain crags, or waft the spray from the crested billows of the sea, all in obeclience to cosmic laws. The facts discerned are many, the discriminations made are nice, and the clussifications based on true homologies, and we haye the science of meteorology, which exhibits an orderly succession of events even in the fickle winds. Sun and Moon.—The Ute philosopher declares the sun to be a living per-onage, and explains bis passage across the heavens along an appointed way by giving an account of a fierce personal conflict between Ta-vi, the sun-god, and Ta-wats, one of the supreme gods of his mythology. In that long ago, the time to which all mythology refers, the sun roamed the earth at will, When he came too near with his i NATURE 313 fierce heat the people were scorched, and when he hid away in his cave for a long time, too idle to come forth, the night was long and the earth cold, Once upon a time Ta-wats, the hare- god, was sitting with his family by the camp fire in the solemn woods anxiously waiting for the return of Ta vi, the wayward sun-god. Wearied with long watching the hare-god fell asleep, and thesun-god came so near that he scorched the naked shoulder of Ta-wats. Foreseeing the vengeance which would be thus provoked, he fled back to his cave beneath the earth. Ta-wats awoke in great anger, and speedily determined to go and fight the sun-god, Afier a long journey of many adventures the hare-god came to the brink of the earth, and there watched long and patiently, till at last the sun-god coming out, he shot an arrow at his face, but the fierce heat consumed the arrow ere it had finished its intended course; then another arrow was.sped, but that also was consumed, and another, and still another, till only one remained in his quiver, but this was the magical arrow that had never failed its mark. Ta-wats, holding it in his hand, lifted the barb to his eye, and baptised it in a divine tear; then the arrow was sped and struck the sun-god full in the face, and the sun was shivered into a thousand fragments, which fell to the earth, causing a general confl-gration. Then Ta-wats, the hare god, fled before the destruction he had wrought, and as he fled, the burning earth consumed his feet, consumed his legs, consumed his body, consumed his hands and his arms; all were consumed but the head alone, which bowled acros valleys and over mountains, fleeing destruction from the burning earth, until at last, swollen with heat, the eyes of the god burst and the tears gushed forth in a flood, which spread over the earth and extinguished the fire. The sun-god was now conquered, and he appeared before a council of the gods to await sen'ence. In that long council was established the days and the nights, the seasons and the years, with the length thereof, and the sun was condemned to travel across the firmament by the same trail day after day till the end of time. In the same philosophy we learn that in that ancient time a council of the gods was held to consider the propriety of making a moon, and at last the task was given to Whip-poor-will, a god of the night, and a frog yiclded himself a willmg sacrifice for this purpose, and the Whip-poor-will, by incantations and other mavical means, transformed the frog into the new moon, The truth of this origin of the moon is made evident to our very senses, for do we not see the frog riding the moon at night? And the moon is cold, because the frog from which it was made was cold. The philosopher of Oraibi tells us that, when the people ascended by means of the magical tree which constituted the ladder from the lower world to this, they found the firmament— the ceiling of this world low down upon the earth—the floor of this world. Machito, one of their gods, raixed the firmament on his shoulders to where it is now seen. Still the world was dark, as there was no sun, no moon, and no stars, So the people murmured because of the « arkness and the cold. Machito said, ‘‘ Bring me seven maidens,” and they brought him seven maidens; and he said, ‘‘ Bring me seven baskets of cotton bolls,” and they brought him seven bas ets of cotton bolls ; and he tauvht the seven maidens to weave a magical fabric from the cotton, and when they had finished it he held it aloft, and the breeze carried it away toward the firmament, and in the twinkling of an eye it was transformed into a beautiful full-orbed moon, and the same breeze caught the remnants of flocculent cotton which the maidens had scattered during their work, and carried them aloft, and they were transformed into bright stars. But still it was cold, and the people murmured again, and Machito said, ‘‘ Bring me seven buffalo robes,” and they brought him seven buffalo robes, and from the densely matted hair of the robes he wove another wonderful fabric, which the storm carried away into the sky, and it was transformed into the full-orbed sun. Then Machito appointed times and seasons and ways for the heavenly bodies, and the gods of the firmament have obeyed the injunctions of Machito from the day of their creation to the resent. > The Norse philosopher tells us that Night and Day each has a horse and acar, and they drive successively one after the other around the world in twenty-four hours. Night rides first with her steed, named Dew-hair, and every morning as he ends his course he bedews the earth with foam from his bit, The stect 314 NATURE [ Fan. 29, 1880. Se CK _ ”....___ eee ee aa driven by Day is Shining-hair. All the sky and earth glisten with the light of his name. Jarnyed, the great iron-wood forest lying to the east of Midgard, is the abode of a race of witches. One monster witch is the mother of many sons in the form of wolves, two of which are Skol and Hate. Skol is the wolf that would devour the maiden, Sun, and she daily flies from the maw of the terrible beast, and the moon-man flies from the wolf Hate. The philosopher of Samos tells us that the earth is surrounded by hollow crystalline spheres set one within another, and all revolving at different rates from east to west about the earth, and that the sun is set in one of these spheres, and the moon in another. - The philosopher of civilisation tells us that the sun is an incande:cent globe, one of the millions afloat in space. About this globe the planets revolve, and the sun and planets and moons were formed from nebulous matter by the gradual segre- gration of their particles, controlled by the laws of gravity, motion, and affinity. The sun, travelling by an appointed way across the heavens, with the never-ending succession of day and night, and the ever-recurring train of seasons, is one of the sub- jects of every philosophy. Among all peoples, in all times, there is an e:planation of these phenomena, but in the lowest stage, aay down in savagery, how few the facts di:cerned, how vague the discriminations made, how superficial the resemblances by which the phenomena are classified ! , In this stave of culture, all the daily and monthly and yearly phenomena, which come as the direct re-ult of the movements of the heavenly bodies, are interpreted as the doings of some one, some yood acts. © In civilisation, the philosopher presents us the science of astronomy, with all its accumulated facts of magnitude, and weizhts, and orbits, and distance~, and veloci- ties, with all the nice discriminations of absolure, relative, and apparent m»tious, and all these facts he is endeavouring to classify in homoloyic categories, and the evolutions and revolu- tions of the heaveuly bodies are explained as an orderly succes- sion of events. (To be continued.) UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL INTELLIGENCE CAMBRIDGE,—Exactly 102 names are in the Cambridge Mathematical Tripos list this year (including three grotant honour-). The signification of this 1s nor quite apparent, but lower in the list will be found two who-e degree is allowed, but who are not to count it asan honour’s degree. These men did well enouvh in the part of the examination they took to deserve a ‘+ poll,” and not an honour’s degree. Trimity has passed more than a score, St. John’s 14, several college~ eight ; but Jesus, Sidney, and Magdalene, as usual, have tew mathematicians. Christ has picked up well, having no fewer than ten in mathe- matical honcur-; Trinity Hall gets in only two, and Downing has one representative. Prof. Hu »phry announces thit his lectures on Anatomy and Phy iology (tne Muscular and Circulatory System-) will be re- sumed on February 3, while his classes fur the second M.B, and for the Natural sciences Tripos recommence on Friday, February 6. Mr. Wherry (recently elected surgeon to Addenbrooke's Hospital) began a class in osteology on January 21, continuing on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays at 1 P.M. Dr. Paget’s lectures on the Principles and Practice of | hysie begin on Mon- day, February 2. SCIENTIFIC SERIALS The Quirie ly Fournal of Microscopical Science, Janvary.— H. M. Ward, on the embryo-sac and development of Gymnadenia conopse1, pl. 1-3.—Fred. Elfving, studies on the pollen bodies of the anv perins, pl. 4.—F. O. Ruwer, on the developuient of the concepiicle in the Fucacee, pl. 5.—-Dr. Cu vinzham, on certam effects of starvation on vegetable and animal tissues.— J. E blo wheld, on the developucnt of speruiatezoa; part I, Luabricus, pl. 6, 7 —F. M. Balfour, on the spinal nerves of Am, bioxus —G, A, Hansen, the bacillus of leprosy, pl. 8.— Notes and Memoranda.—/roceed ngs ot Dublin Microscopical Club, A; ril, 1879, to October, 1879. THE American Naturalist, vol. xiii. No, 12., Deceinber, 1879. —Geurge H. Perkins, archaeology of the Champlain Valley.— G. de Mortillet, the origin of the domestic animals,—F, Brendel, historical sketch of the science of botany in North America from 1635 to 1840.—E. D. Cope,” on the extinct American rhinoceroses and their allies.—Recent Literature; General Notes ; Scientific News, Vol. 14, No. 1, January.—Henry J. Rice, observations on the habits, structure, and development of Amphioxus lanceolatus. — Elliot Coues, sketch of North American ornithology in 1879. —F. Brendel, historical sketch of the science of botany in North America from 1840 to 1858.—The Editor, notes on the present position of affairs in the Philadelphia Academy.—Recent Literature ; General Notes; Scientific News. Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, 1879. Part 2, April to October.—Thos. Meehan, on hybrid fuchsias ; on special fecundity in plants; do snakes swallow their young? on Zonas inodora ; on sex in Castanea americana 5 Variations in Zhwja and Refinospora.—Kev. H. C. M'Cook, the adoption of an ant-queen; mode of depositing ant-eggs ; on the marriage flights of Zasius flavus and Myrmica lobricornis > pairing of Zinyphia marginata ; on mound-making ants; notes on Jetramorium cespitum ; on Myrmecocystus mexicanus.— John A. Ryder : on a new Pauropod and its larva (Zurypauropus Spinosus); on a new Chirocephalus, C. holmani ; on honey glands on Catalpa leaves ; description of Svreptocephalus sealit, sp. nov.—Dr. Chapman, on Amphiuma; placenta of A/acacus cynomolzus.--Dr. Dereum: the lateral sensory apparatus of fishes. —Dr. Leidy: on rhizopods in Sphagnum; fossil foot- tracks of the antbracite coal-measures ; explosion of a diamond ; on Orgy'a; on some coast animals of New Jersey; on Cris- tatella ide; on Amaba blatte—E, Potts: on the supposed sensitive churacters of the glands of the Asclepiadaceze,—E, Goldsmith, on amber containing fossil insects.— Angelo Heilprin, on some new eocene fossils from the Claiborne marine formation of Alabama, plate 13. Revue des Sciences Naturelles, 2nd ser., tome 1, No. 3, December 15, 1879.—L. ‘lillier, contributions to a memoir on the geographical distribution of marine fish (conclusion),—A. de Saint-Simon, anatomical notes on some species of Pomatias.— Ph. Thomas, note on some species of horses found fossil in the neighbourhood of Constantine.-—M, Leymerie, a sketch of the Pyrenees ».f the department of Aude,—Scientific Review, con- taining notices of French works on zoology, botany, and geology, publi-hed in 1879.—bulletin. \ILIETIES AND ACAVEMIES LonDON Royal Society, November 27, 1879.—‘‘ On certain Definite Integrals,” No.6. By W. H. L. Russell, F.R.S. January 6.—‘‘ On certain Definite Integrals,” No. 7. By W. H. L. Russell, F.R.S. “*On a Pos-ible Mode of Detecting a Motion of the Solar System through the Luminiferous Ether.” _ By the late Prof, J. Clerk Maxwell. Ina letter to Mr. D. P. Todd, Director of the Nautical Almanac Office, Washington, U.S. Communicated by Prof. Stoke , Sec. R.S. Mr. Todd has been so good as to communicate to me a copy of the subjomed letter, and has kindly permitted me to make any use of it, As the notice referred to by Maxwell in the Zacyclopedia Britannica is very brief, being confined to a single sentence, and as the subject is one of great interest, I have thought it best to communicate the letter to the Royal Society. From the researches of Mr. Huggins on the radial component of the relative velocity of our sun and certain stars, the coefficient of the inequality which we might expect as not unlikely, would be only sumething comparable with half a second of time. Vhis, no doubt, would be a very delicate matter to determine. Still, for anything we know @ priori to the contrary, the motion might be very much greater than what would correspond to this; and the idea has a value of its own, irrespective of the possibility of actually making the determination. mee In his letter to me Mr, Todd remarks, ‘‘I regard the commu- nication as one of extraordinary importance, although (as you will notice if you have access to the reply which I made) it is likely to be a long time before we shall have tables of the satellites of Jupiter sufficiently accurate to put the matter toa practical test,” : fan. 20, 1 880] letter on the chance that something bearing on the subject might ‘be found among Maxwell’s papers. (Copy.) : Cavendish Laboratory, Cambridge, 19th March, 1879 / Sir, Ihave received with much pleasure the tables of the satellites of Jupiter which you have been so kind as to send me, and I am encouraged by your interest in the Jovial system to ask you if _ you have made any special study of the apparent retardation of the eclipses as affected by the geocentric position of Jupiter. I am told that observations of this kind have been somewhat put out of fashion by other methods of determining quantities related to the velocity of light, but they afford the on/y method, so faras I know, of getting any estimate of the direction and magnitude of the velocity of the sun with respect to the lumini- ferous medium. Even if we were sure of the theory of aberra- tion, we can only get differences of position of stars, and in the terrestrial methods of determining the velocity of light, the light comes back along the same path again, so that the velocity of the earth with respect to the ether would alter the time of the double passage by a quantity depending on the square of the ratio of the earth’s velocity to that of light, and this is quite too small to be observed. But if J E is the distance of Jupiter from the earth, and 7 the geocentric longitude, and if /’ is the longitude and A the latitude of the direction in which the sun is moving through ether with velocity v, and if V is the velocity of light and 7 the time of transit from J to E, , JE=[V-—v cosa cos (7—/’)] Zz. By a comparison of the values of ¢ when Jupiter is in different signs of the zodiac, it would be possible to determine /’ and v cos A. I do not see how to determine A, unless we had a planet with an orbit very much inclined to the ecliptic. It may be noticed that whereas the determination of V, the velocity of light, by this method depends on the differences of J E, that is, on the diameter of the earth’s orbit, the determination of wv cos A depends on J E itself, a much larger quantity. But no method can be made available without good tables of the motion of the satellites, and as I am not an astronomer, I do not know whether, in comparing the observations with the tables of Damoiseau, any attempt has been made to consider the term in v cos A. ' Ihave, therefore, taken the liberty of writing to you, as the matter is beyond the reach of any one who has not made a special study of the satellites. Tn the article E [ether] in the ninth edition of the ‘ Encyclo- peedia Britannica,” I have collected all the facts I know about the relative motion of the ether and the bodies which move in it, and have shown that nothing can be inferred about this relative motion from any phenomena hitherto observed, except the eclipses, &c., of the satellites of a planet, the more distant the better. If you know of any work done in this direction, either by yourself or others, I should esteem it a favour to be told of it, Believe me, Yours faithfully, (Signed) J. CLERK MAXWELL D. P. Todd, Esq. * Linnean Society, January 15.—Prof. Allman, president, in the chair.—Mr. A. J, Hewett exhibited and made remarks on a common web on community of cocoons, and of the moths (genus Anaphe?) escaped therefrom, said to have been got at Old Calabar.—Mr. Baker brought under notice a monstrous form of Thistle (Carduus crispus) obtained by the Rev. J. A. Preston in Wiltshire. In this specimen the capitula were abnormally numerous, and aggregated in secondary heads as in Echinops.— A Moa’s tibia and tarsus (Dinornis maximus) dug up four feet from the surface at Omaru, N.Z., were shown on behalf of Mr, Jas. Forsyth.—A paper was read on the birds and mammals _ introduced into New Zealand, by Mr. H. M. Brewer. The author refers to Dr, Buller’s Avifauna of New Zealand as not written too soon, for the rapid disappearance of many highl interesting forms is to be deplored. Finches and other small birds introduced are preyed on by the New Zealand Owl, but nevertheless quite a long list of British songsters, game birds, and others have been successfully established. Pheasants NATURE I have not thought it expedient to delay the publication of the 315 in some districts abound; and it is observed that when the tremor of an earthquake occurs the cock pheasants set up a continuous crow, either of defiance or fear(?). Partridges thrive best on the south island, Red deer are now seen in herds on the hills near Nelson, Hares have increased too rapidly, and the female in New Zealand has become more prolific, giving birth to six or seven young ata time. Kangaroos and various other mammals have likewise been imported, but unfortunately facts mentioned point out that the acclimatisation of some of them is not alto- gether an unmitigated blessing to the farmer colonist.—Then followed a memoir by Mr, J. G. Baker ‘‘ Synopsis of the Aloineze and Yuccoidex.” To these two tribes belong all the shrubby arborescent tribes of the capsular Liliaceze. Aloes belong en- tirely to the Old World; out of a total of 200 species 170 being concentrated at the Cape of Good Hope, the remainder in the highlands of Tropical Africa. Of the Yuccoidez there are about fifty species altogether, and nearly all are natives of Mexico and the Southern United States. The yuccas fruit rarely under cul- tivation, the large white pendulous flowers being in the wild plant fertilised by a moth of the genus Promuda. ferreria, belonging to temperate South America, is a shrubby climber with the habit of Sw/ax and Dioscorea.—Messrs. J. Poland, J. Darell Stephens, and Prof, Allen Thomson were elected Fellows, and T. Jeffery Parker, an Associate of the Society. Zoological Society, January 6.—Frof. Flower, F.R.S., president, in the chair.—Prof, Newton, F.R.S., V.P., exhibited, on behalf of Mr. G. B. Corbin, a specimen of Acanthyllis sive Chetura caudacuta—the Needle-tailed Swift—shot near Ring- wood, in Hampshire, in July, 1879, remarking that it was the second example of this Siberian species which had been obtained in England.—Mr. John Henry Steel, F.Z.S., read a series of preliminary notes on the individual variations observed in the osteological and myological structure of the Domestic Ass (Zquus asinus).—A communication was read from Mr. E. W. White, C.M.Z.S., containing notes on the distribution and habits of Chlamyphorus truncatus, from observations made by the author during a recent excursion into the western provinces of the Argentine Republic, undertaken for the purpose of ob- taining a better knowledge of this animal.—Dr,. John Mulvany, R.N., read a paper on a case which seemed to him to indicate the moulting of the horny beak in a Penguin of the genus Eudyptes—Mr. O. Thomas, F.Z.S., read the description of a new species of A/us, obtained from the Island of Ovalau, Fiji, by Baron A. von Hiigel, and proposed to be called A/us huegeli, after its discoverer—A communication was read from Mr. R. G. Wardlaw Kamsay, F.Z.S., containing a report on a collec- tion of birds made by Mr. Bock, a naturalist employed by the late Lord Tweeddale, in the neighbourhood of Padang. Three species were described as new, and proposed to be called Dicrurus sumatranus, Turdinus marmoratus, and Myiophoneus castaneus.—Dr. Giinther, F.R.S., read a description of two new species of Antelopes, of the genus JVeotragus, NV. hirki, from Eastern Africa, and V. mo/avis, from Damara-land. GENEVA = Society of Physics and Natural History, May 1, 1879. —M. Charles Soret details his experiments for investigating the mode of distribution of salts in solutions, the constituents of which are subjected to different temperatures. The attempts made upon azotate of potash and chloride of sodium led him to the discovery that there is a greater concentration in the cold part than in the warm. ; ‘ June 5.—Prof. Schiff discusses the comparative properties of the nerves of sense and those of motion. He demonstrates on a curarised frog, the persistence of sensibility after the animal has lost all capacity for movement under the action of the poison. He observes, at the same time, that the persistence is only relative, and that the sensibility presently disappears, after an interval varying in duration according to the temperature, If that temperature is low (3° or 4° C., for example) the frog may live for eighteen days,—MM. L, Soret and E. Sarasin have determined the principal elements of the magnesium spectrum, by measuring the refraction indices of quartz for its principal lines, and by the existence of numerous photographs.—M. G. Lunel describes a new species of Trygonide belonging to the genus Pteroplatea, brought from Rio Janeiro.—M. R. Pictet reports his investigations to solve the problem—What form must be given to a definite surface that it may maintain its equilibrium in the air with the minimum of mechanical work? His experi- ments were made with kites having a dynamometer of great 316 NATURE Ne EMG > nn Lan i ——_ |... sensibility attached to their strings. His conclusion was that, with reference to the work done, a given surface would the more easily support a fixed weight in proportion as the surface pre- sented its shorter dimension in the direction of the wind, and its longer dimension perpendicularly to that direction,—M. A. De Candolle announces the publication of the last part of the fourth volume of M., Boissier’s ‘‘ Flora Orientalis,” completing the description of Dicotyledons, : ' July 8.—MM. Micheli gives an abstract of his monographic investigations of the families Alismacex, Butomaceze, and Juncaginez.—M. E, Ador has studied with MM, Friedel and Crafts the action of chloride of methyl on benzine, in presence of chloride of aluminium,—M. Forel has detected in the oscilla- lations of the surface of Lake Geneva a movement which he terms ‘‘seiches dicrotes,” consisting in a redoubling of the oscillation in two series of oscillations which mutually interfere, being of unequal duration, —Prof, Colladon ob-erved an upward current of air round the Pissevache Waterfall, which is sur- rounded by a layer from 30 to 40 cm. in thickness, filled with very small drops of water. This phenomenon, due to the air- suction of the fall, might serve to explain the atmospheric currents accompanying the formation of hail, August 7.—Prof. Schiff relates his researches on the action exercised upon hysterical subjects by the contact of metals and electric currents.—M. R. Pictet saw on Mount Jura, during a storia that broke forth on the 5th, a bluish light produced over a forest, resembling St. Elmo’s fire. It disappeared and reap- peared three times, under the influence of successive violent thunder-claps. : September 4.—M. Soret believes the ‘*seiches dicrotes” ob- served by M. Forel can be explained by the superposition of two oscillations, one ‘‘ uninodal,” lasting seventy-two minutes, the other ‘‘binodal,” lasting a little less than half that time. October 2.—Dr. Marcet shows his instruments for collecting and analysing the air emitted from the lungs.—M C, de Can- dolle has ascertained the prolonged action of low temperatures on the germinative power of various kinds of grain, November 6.—MM. L. Soret and Rilliet have investigated the absorption of the ultra-violet rays of the spectrum by certain organic substances—the azotates of ethyl, isobutyle, and amyl, ammonia, &c,—M. R. Pictet presents a barometer intended to measure vapour tensions, It is composed of a vertical glass tube, wide at the top and very narrow towards the bottom, which bends at aright angle to be prolonged into a long horizontal tube. The lower level of the mercury is therefore constant, and as its volume does not vary, the variations of the higher level in the large tube are reproduced on a much enlarged scale in the natrow horizontal tube from which the readings are taken.— From a comparison of a series of eighty years’ meteorological observations made at Geneva, Prof. Wartman has observed that the odds are remarkable in favour of August 15 being a stormy day.—Prof. Brun shows a fragment of fulgurite found on Mount Jura in chalky soil, a circumstance of very rare occur- rence. Its surface is covered with small vitrefied globules which can only be explained by the fusion of the chalky matter under the influence of the lightning. PARIS Academy of Sciences, January 19.—M. Edm, Becquerel in the chair.—M. Daubrée presented the fifth volume of his “Traité de Méchanique.”—The following papers were read :— On some applications of elliptic functions, by M. Hermite.—On the heat of formation of hydrate of chloral, by M. Berthelot. He offers experimental proof that gaseous chloral and water- vapour combine together with liberation of heat, and without change of state. The two are introduced from the boiling liquids into a small glass globe (with thermometer and drawing- off tube), one through a strai ht, the other (chloral vapour) through a spiral tube, and these parts are inclosed in a stoppered piece of glass tube, through which a steam current from the same source as the other circulates, and which also holds a thermometer, Throughout the experiment, after the vapours met, the thermometer in the globe showed a higher temperature than that of the inclosure, and the temperature was about 1° above that of boiling water, during twenty-five minutes. Negative results may be got, if the relative proportions be not regulated. —Note on hydrate of chloral, by M. Wurtz. With similar conditions of experiment, and the chloral previously boiled to expel hydrochloric acid, he had not found the least rise of tempera- ture,—Note on the utility of concentric curved plates to alternately charge siphons by means of an oscillating liquid column, by M. De Caligny.—Simplification of American audiphone appa- ratus for the deaf and dumb, by M. Colladon, A simple disk of a particular kind of pasteboard, which is compact, homoge- neous, elastic, and tenacious, is substituted for the hardened caoutchouc, no cords being required to fix the tension. The part applied to the teeth is coated with a substance to resist moisture. Musical sounds, and words uttered near, were under- stood hy deaf mutes who tried the instrument.—The General Inspector of Navigation communicated figures regarding the daily height of the Seine in 1879, at the Pont Royal and the Pont de la Tournelle. The highest water at the former was 6°21 m, on January 9, the lowest 1°67 m. on October 10, 15, and 17; the mean, 2°72 m.—A letter was read, suggesting to saw into pieces the bank of ice on the Loire, near Saumur, Admiral Paris gave details of an attempt made in Russia in 1855 to liberate ships from ice by means of saws. He thought the method very useful where there is a current to carry off the ice ; the ice heing sawn in long strips across the current, which break up ez rou e,—On a class of linear differential equations, by M. Picard.—Experimental and clinical researches on anzes- thesia produced by lesions of the cerebral convolutions, by M, Tripier, Sensibility may be more or less diminished by lesions of the fronto-parietal region, which has been thought only a motor zone.—On the plants which serve as base for various curares, by M. Planchon, Four distinct regions are centres of preparation for curare, and for each a principal plant can be indicated. (The regions are English and Upper French Guiana, that of the Upper Amazon, and that of the Rio Negro.)—On the linear and lacunar confluents of the connective tissue of the cornea, by M, Renaut.—On the parturition of the common porpoie (Phocena communis), by M. Jourdain.—Influence of climates on the maturation of corn, by M. Balland. This relates to observations at Orleansville, in Algeria. The mean monthly temperatures in 1877-78-79 are given ; they range from 7°°8 to 32°°6, It is calculated that wheat, to reach its full evo- lution, must have received 2498° of heat in 1877-78, and 2432° in 1878-79, which is near the number (2365°) obtained by M. Hervé Mangon for Normandy ; but the time required at Or- lean-ville was 180 days, as against 266 in the other case. — Remarks on the use of Smithson’s pile for detection of mercury, especially in mineral waters, by M. Lefort. Arsenic may, with it, be confounded with mercury, The easy reduction of oxy- genated acids of arsenic by metals, under influence of the weakest electric current, is made evident.—Light, cover, and humus, studied in their influence on the vegetation of trees in forests, by M. Gurnaud. CONTENTS Tue FunpAMENTAL DeFiNiTIONS AND ProposiTions oF GEOMETRY, wiTH Espxcias. REFERENCE 10 THE SYLLABUS OF THE ASSOCIATION FOR THE ImpKovemEnT oF GromeTricaL Teacuinc. By Prof. Pace Simon NEwcomes . oo 0 8 6 0 es) © © he 6 fal eet ieee aces Tue Science OF STATESMANSHIP . « + « «© «© © © © « « # « 299 Nicuotsun’s Pat @oNTOLOGY. . + « «© «© © © © © © © «© © © 207 Sizinc anD Mitpawin Corton Goops . . « «© » » « « « + + 298 LerteKs TO tHe UH DITOK :— The Intra-Mercurial Planet Question.—Prof. Lewis Swirr. .« 299 The Lransverse Propagation of Light —W. M. Hicks .. «+ 301 Mountain Ranges.—H. B. MepiicoTT. . - -_- « « « « gor Ice Filaments.x—R. Metpota ; Rey. O. FisHER; Capt. H. Kine. 302 The Kangaroo.—ALFRED MORRIS . ». « © «© « «© « @ 302 Chinese Geese —L+ wis WRIGHT - +. © « The Molecular Velocity of Gases.—L. HajniS_ . es Boas 6 eee % w oi artes Thee go2 Suicide of the Scorpion, —F, GILLMAN « « «© « «© #© © # « 302 Meteur.—J.S. THOMSON, -« « © © «© se @ & ‘fae On Hatrev’s Mount” .".".' o's eo et a 2 pe 303 Tue U.S. WEATHER Maps .' 1 « « « « «© © © & 0 6 6 8 304 Dirrusion or CopPeRIN THE ANIMAL Kincpom. By T, H. NorTon 305 Nores wip tle Sele ee Quien te ae 305 Our AstrRonomicat CoLumNn:— Periodical Variation in the Brightness of Nebula . . «+ + + 397 Total Solar Eclipses in the next Decade. . + s+ «© + + + + 308 BroLocicat Norges :— Bees Eating Entrapped Moths. «'+ . + + + + + + «© + + 308 New Mosasauroid Reptiles . . . . + + + + © © « «© » + 308 New England [sopods. . + + © + © © © © © © © # + © 309 The Fossil Horses of Constantine. . + + + © * © + # # + 309 Puysican NOTES: © ons Vis peril aig Re cee ht elt aan na ASOD. GroGraviicar Norrs eater tee ec a eet me ol oot aR EO Tue EFF-cTs oF UNINTERRUPTED SUNLIGHT ON PLANTS - iS ge Myruxo.ocic Puitosoruy. By Prof. J. W.Powftt . + + + + 312 Unstvensity anp EvUCATIONAL LNTELLIGENCR « + + 0: \aywtiehe gies SciagNTIRFIc SERIALS, - ce 8 © « Bowe te 8 oe oO 8 OTe Socizrtss AND ACADEMIES . s+ s+ 8 © © © © © & © © © © OIG [%an. 29, 1880 NATURE 317. THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 1880 CLERK-MAXWELL’S SCIENTIFIC WORK T the instance of Sir W. Thomson, Mr. Lockyer, and others I proceed to give an account of Clerk- Maxwell's work, necessarily brief, but I hope sufficient to let even the non-mathematical reader see how very great were his contributions to modern science. I have the less hesitation in undertaking this work that I have been intimately acquainted with him since we were schoolboys together. If the title of mathematician be restricted (as it too commonly is) to those who possess peculiarly ready mastery over symbols, whether they try to understand the significance of each step or no, Clerk-Maxwell was not, and certainly never attempted to be, in the foremost rank of mathematicians. He was slow in “writing out,” and avoided as far as he could the intricacies of analysis. He preferred always to have before him a geometrical or physical representation of the problem in which he was engaged, and to take all his steps with the aid of this: afterwards, when necessary, translating them into symbols. In the comparative paucity of symbols in many of his great papers, and in the way in which, when wanted, they seem to grow full-blown from pages of ordinary text, his writings resemble much those of Sir William Thomson, which in early life he had with great wisdom chosen as a model, There can be no doubt that in this habit, of constructing a mental representation of every problem, lay one of the chief secrets of his wonderful success as an investigator. To this were added an extraordinary power of penetration, and an altogether unusual amount of patient determination. The clearness of his mental vision was quite on a par with that of Faraday; and in this (the true) sense of the word he was a mathematician of the highest order, But the rapidity of his thinking, which he could not control, was such as to destroy, except for the very highest class of students, the value of his lectures, His books and his written addresses (always gone over twice in MS.) are models of clear and precise exposition ; but his exfempore lectures exhibited in a manner most aggra- vating to the listener the extraordinary fertility of his imagination. His original work was commenced at a very early age. His first printed paper, “Ox the Description of Oval Curves, and those having a Plurality of Foci,’ was communicated for him by Prof. Forbes to the Royal Society of Edinburgh, and inserted in the “ Proceedings” for 1846, before he reached his fifteenth year. He had then been taught only a book or two of Euclid, and the merest elements of Algebra. Closely connected with this are three unprinted papers, of which I have copies (taken in the same year), on “ Descartes’ Ovals,” “ The Meloid and Apioid,” and “ Trifocal Curves.’ All of these, which are drawn up in strict geometrical form and divided into consecutive propositions, are devoted to the proper- ties of plane curves whose equations are of the form mr+urtpr’+e... r, 7,7’, &c., being the distances of a point on the curve Vo, xx1.—No, 536 = constant, from given fixed points, and m, », #, &c., mere numbers, Maxwell gives a perfectly general method of tracing all such curves by means of a flexible and inextensible cord. When there are but two terms, if #z,and # have the same sign we have the ordinary Descartes’ Ovals, if their signs be different we have what Maxwell called the Meloid and the Apioid. In each case a simple geo- metrical method is given for drawing a tangent at any point, and some of the other properties of the curves are elegantly treated. Clerk-Maxwell spent the years 1847-50 at the University of Edinburgh, without keeping the regular course for a degree. He was allowed to work during this period, without assistance or supervision, in the Laboratories of Natural Philosophy and of Chemistry: and he thus experi- mentally taught himself much which other men have to learn with great difficulty from lectures or books. His reading was very extensive. The records of the Uni- versity Library show that he carried home for study, during these years, such books as Fourier’s 7/éorie de la Chaleur, Monge’s Géometrie Descriptive, Newton's Optics, Willis’ Principles of Mechanism, Cauchy's Calcul Dif- Sérentiel, Taylor’s Scientific Memoirs, and others of a very high order. These were vead through, not merely consulted. Unfortunately no list is kept of the books consulted in the Library. One result of this period of steady work consists in two elaborate papers, printed in the Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. The first (dated 1849) ‘On the Theory of Rolling Curves,” is a purely mathematical treatise, supplied with an immense collection of very elegant particular examples, The second (1850) is “On the Equilibrium of Elastic Solids.” Considering the age of the writer at the time, this is one of the most remarkable of his investigations, Maxwell reproduces in it, by means of a special set of assumptions, the equations already given by Stokes. He applies them to a number of very interesting cases, such as the torsion of a cylinder, the formation of the large mirror of a reflecting telescope by means of a partial vacuum at the back of a glass plate, and the theory of Orsted’s apparatus for the compression of water. But he also applies his equations to the calculation of the strains produced in a transparent plate by applying couples to cylinders which pass through it at right angles, and the study (by polarised light) of the doubly-refracting struc- ture thus produced. He expresses himself as unable to explain the permanence of this structure when once pro- duced in isinglass, gutta percha, and other bodies. He recurred to the subject twenty years later, and in 1873 communicated to the Royal Society his very beautiful discovery of the /ewforary double refraction produced by shearing in viscous liquids. During his undergraduateship in Cambridge he deye- loped the germs of his future great work on “ Electricity and Magnetism” (1873) in the form of a paper “On Faraday’s Lines of Force,” which was ultimately printed in 1856 in the “Trans. of the Cam. Phil. Soc.” He showed me the MS, of the greater part of it in 1853. It is a paper of great interest in itself, but extremely im- portant as indicating the first steps to such a splendid result. His idea of a fluid, incompressible and without mass, but subject to a species of friction in space, was confessedly adopted from the analogy pointed out by +B 318 NATURE Thomson in 1843 between the steady flow of heat and the phenomena of statical electricity. Other five papers on the same subject were communi- cated by him to the Philosophical Magazine in 1861-2, under the title Physical Lines of Force. Then in 1864 appeared his great paper “ On a Dynamical Theory of the Electromagnetic Field.” This was inserted in the Philosophical Transactions, and may be looked upon as the first complete statement of the theory developed in the treatise on Electricity and Magnetism. In recent years he came to the conclusion that such analogies as the conduction of heat, or the motion of the mass-less but incompressible fluid, depending as they do on Laplace’s equation, were best symbolised by the quaternion notation with Hamilton’s 7 operator; and in consequence, in his work on electricity, he gives the ex- pressions for all the more important physical quantities in their quaternion form, though without employing the calculus itself in their establishment. I have discussed in another place (NATURE, vol. vii. p. 478) the various important discoveries in this remarkable work, which of itself is sufficient to secure for its author a foremost place among natural philosophers. I may here state that the main object of the work is to do away with “action at a distance,” so far at least as electrical and magnetic forces are concerned, and to explain these by means of stresses and motions of the medium which is required to account for the phenomena of light. Maxwell has shown that, on this hypothesis, the velocity of light is the ratio of the electro-magnetic and electro-static units. Since this ratio, and the actual velocity of light, can be determined by absolutely independent experiments, the theory can be put at once to an exceedingly severe preliminary test. Neither quantity is yet fairly known within about 2 or 3 per cent., and the most probable values of each certainly agree more closely than do the separate determinations of either. There can now be little doubt that Maxwell’s theory of electrical phenomena rests upon foundations as secure as those of the undulatory theory of light. But the life-long work of its creator has left it still in its infancy, and it will probably require for its proper - development the services of whole generations of mathe- maticians. This was not the only work of importance to which he devoted the greater part of his time while an undergra- duate at Cambridge. For he had barely obtained his degree before he read to the Cambridge Philosophical Society a remarkable paper Ox the Transformation of Surfaces by Bending, which appears in their Transactions with the date March 1854. The subject is one which had been elaborately treated by Gauss and other great mathematicians, but their methods left much to be de_ sired from the point of view of simplicity. This Clerk- Maxwell certainly supplied; and to such an extent that it is difficult to conceive that any subsequent investigator will be able to simplify the new mode of presentation as much as Maxwell simplified the old one. Many of his results, also, were real additions to the theory ; especially his treatment of the Lines of Bending. But the whole matter is one which, except in its almost obvious elements, it is vain to attempt to popularise. The next in point of date of Maxwell’s greatest works is his “Essay on the Stability of the Motion of Saturn’s Rings,” which obtained the Adams’ Prize in the _ University of Cambridge in 1857. This admirable investigation was published as a pamphlet in 1859. Laplace had shown in the AMWécanigue Céleste that a” uniform solid ring cannot revolve permanently about a planet ; for, even if its density were so adjusted as to prevent its splitting, a slight disturbance would inevitably cause it to fall in. Maxwell begins by finding what amount of want of uniformity would make a solid ring stable. He finds that this could be effected by a satellite rigidly attached to the ring, and of about 4} times its mass :—but that such an arrangement, while not agreeing with observation, would require extreme artificiality of adjustment of a kind not elsewhere observed. Not only so, but the materials, in order to prevent its behaving almost like a liquid under the- great forces to which it is exposed, must have an amount of rigidity far exceeding that of any known substance. He therefore dismisses the hypothesis of solid rings, and (commencing with that of a ring of equal and equi- distant satellites) shows that a continuous liquid ring cannot be stable, but may become so when broken up into satellites. He traces in a masterly way the effects of the free and forced waves which must traverse the ring, under various assumptions as to its constitution; and he shows that the only system of rings which can dynamically exist must be composed of a very great number of separate masses, revolving round the planet with velocities depend- ing on their distances from it. But even in this case the system of Saturn cannot be permanent, because of the mutual actions of the various rings. These mutual actions must lead to the gradual spreading out of the whole system, both inwards and outwards :—but if, as is probable, the outer ring is much denser than the inner ones, a very small increase of its external diameter would balance a large change in the inner rings. This is con- sistent with the progressive changes which have been observed since the discovery of the rings. An ingenious and simple mechanism is described, by which the motions of a ring composed of equal satellites can be easily demonstrated. Another subject which he treated with great success, as well from the experimental as from the theoretical point of view, was the Perception of Colour, the Primary Colour Sensations, and the Nature of Colour Blindness, His earliest paper on these subjects bears date 1855, and the seventh has the date 1872. He received the Rumford Medal from the Royal Society in 1860, “For his Re- searches on the Composition of Colours and other optical papers.” Though a triplicity about colour had long been known or suspected, which Young had (most probably correctly) attributed to the existence of three sensations, and Brewster had erroneously ' supposed to be objective, Maxwell was the first to make colour-sensation the sub- ject of actual measurement. He proved experimentally that any colour C (given in intensity of illumination as well as in character) may be expressed in terms of three arbitrarily chosen standard colours, X, Y, Z, by the formula C=aX+ b6Y+4+¢Z. Here a, 6,c are numerical coefficients, which may be * All we can positively say to be erroneous is some of the principal argu- ments by which Brewster’s view was maintained, for the subjective character of the triplicity has not been absolutely demonstrated. [Fed. 5, 1880 — ite a» e ¥ i P Feb. Py 1880] positive or negative; the sign = means “ matches,’ + means “superposed,” and — directs the term to be taken to the other side of the equation. These researches of Maxwell’s are now so well known, in consequence especially of the amount of attention which has been called to the subject by Helmholtz’ great work on Physiological Optics, that we need not farther discuss them here. The last of his greatest investigations is the splendid Series on the Kinetic Theory of Gases, with the closely connected question of the sizes, and laws of mutual action, of the separate particles of bodies. The Kinetic Theory seems to have originated with D. Bernoulli; but his successors gradually reverted to statical theories of molecular attraction and repulsion, such as those of Boscovich. Herapath (in 1847) seems to have been the first to recall attention to the Kinetic Theory of gaseous pressure. Joule in 1848 calculated the average velocity of the particles of hydrogen and other gases. Krénig in 1856 (Pogg. Ann.) took up the question, but he does not seem to have advanced it farther than Joule had gone ; except by the startling result that the weight of a mass of gas is only half that of its particles when at rest. Shortly afterwards (in 1859) Clausius took a great step in advance, explaining, by means of the kinetic theory, the relations between the volume, temperature and pressure of a gas, its cooling by expansion, and the slow- ness of diffusion and conduction of heat in gases. He also investigated the relation between the length of the mean free path of a particle, the number of particles in a given space, and their least distance when in collision. The special merit of Clausius’ work lies in his introduction of the processes of the theory of probabilities into the treat- ment of this question, Then came Clerk-Maxwell. His first papers are entitled “Tllustrations of the Dynamical Theory’of Gases,” and appeared in the Phz/. Mag. in 1860. By very simple pro- cesses he treats the collisions of a number of perfectly elastic spheres, first when all are of the same mass, secondly when there is a mixture of groups of different masses. He thus verifies Gay-Lussac’s law, that the number of particles per unit volume is the same in all gases at the same pressure and temperature. He explains gaseous friction by the transference to and fro of particles between contiguous strata of gas sliding over one another, and shows that the coefficient of viscosity is inde- pendent of the density of the gas. From Stokes’ calculation of that coefficient he gave the first deduced approximate value of the mean length of the free path ; which could not, for want of data, be obtained from the relation given by Clausius. He obtained a closely ac- cordant value of the same quantity by comparing his results for the kinetic theory of diffusion with those of one of Graham’s experiments. He also gives an estimate of the conducting power of air for heat ; and he shows that the assumption of non-spherical particles, which during collision change part of their energy of translation into energy of rotation, is inconsistent with the known ratio of the two specific heats of air, A few years later he made a series of valuable experi- mental determinations of the viscosity of air and other gases at different temperatures. These are described in NATURE 319 Phil. Trans. 1866 ; and they led to his publishing (in the next volume) a modified theory, in which the gaseous particles are no longer regarded as perfectly elastic, but as repelling one another according to the law of the inverse fifth power of the distance. This paper contains some very powerful analysis, which enabled him to sim- plify the mathematical theory for many of its most im- portant applications. Three specially important results are given in conclusion, and they are shown to be inde- pendent of the particular mode in which gaseous particles are supposed to act on one another. These are :— 1. In a mixture of particles of two kinds differing in amounts of mass, the average energy of translation of a particle must be the same for either kind. This is Gay Lussac’s Law already referred to. 2. In a vertical column of mixed gases, the density of each gas at any point is ultimately the same as if no other gas were present. This law was laid down by Dalton. ‘3. Throughout a vertical column of gas gravity has no effect in making one part hotter or colder than another; whence (by the dynamical theory of heat) the same must be true for all substances, Maxwell has published in later years several additional papers on the Kinetic Theory, generally of a more abstruse character than the majority of those just described. His two latest papers (in the PAzZ, Trans. and Camb. Phil. Trans. of last year) are on this subject :—one is an extension and simplification of some of Boltz- mann’s valuable additions to the Kinetic Theory. The other is devoted to the explanation of the motion of the radiometer by means of this theory. Several years ago (NATURE, vol. xii. p. 217), Prof. Dewar and the writer pointed out, and demonstrated experimentally, that the action of Mr. Crookes’ very beautiful instrument was to be explained by taking account of the increased length of the mean free path in rarefied gases, while the then received opinions ascribed it either to evaporation or to a quasi-corpuscular theory of radiation, Stokes extended the explanation to the behaviour of disks with concave and convex surfaces, but the subject was not at all fully investigated from the theoretical point of view till Maxwell took it up. During the last ten years of his life he had no rival to claim concurrence with him in the whole wide domain of molecular forces, and but two or three in the still more recondite subject of elec- tricity. “Every one must have observed that when a slip of “paper falls through the air, its motion, though un- “decided and wavering at first, sometimes becomes “regular. Its general path is not in the vertical direc- “tion, but inclined to it at an angle which remains nearly “constant, and its fluttering appearance will be found to “be due toa rapid rotation round a horizontal axis. The “direction of deviation from the vertical depends on the “direction of rotation. . . . These effects are commonly “attributed to some accidental peculiarity in the form of “the paper....” So writes Maxwell in the Cam. and Dub. Math. Jour. (May, 1854), and proceeds to give an exceedingly simple and beautiful explanation of the phenomenon. The explanation is, of course, of a very general character, for the complete working out of such a problem appears to be, even yet, hopeless; but it is «320 -thoroughly characteristic of the man, that his mind could never bear to pass by any phenomenon without satisfying - itself of at least its general nature and causes, -In the same volume of the J/ath. Journal there is an exceedingly elegant “problem” due to Maxwell, with his solution of it. Ina note we are told that it was “sug- gested by the contemplation of the structure of the crys- talline lens in fish.” It is as follows :— A transparent medium is such that the path of a ray of light within it is a given circle, the index of refraction being a function of the distance from a given point in the plane of the circle. Find the form of this function, and show that for light of the same refrangibility— 1. The path of every ray within the medium is a circle. 2. All the rays proceeding from any point in the medium will meet accurately in another point. 3. If rays diverge from a point without the medium and enter it through a spherical surface having that point for its centre, they will be made to converge accurately to a point within the medium. Analytical treatment of this and connected questions, by a novel method, will be found in a paper by the present writer (Zrans, R.S.E. 1865). Optics was one of Clerk-Maxwell’s favourite subjects, sbut; of his many papers on various branches of it, or subjects directly connected with it, we need mention only the following :— “On the General Laws of Optical Instruments’’ (Quart. Math. Four. 1858). “On the Cyclide” (Quart. Math. Fournal, 1868). “On the best Arrangement for Producing a Pure Spectrum on a Screen” (Proc. R.S.EZ. 1868). “On the Focal Lines of a Refracted Pencil” (JZazh. Soc. Proc. 1873). A-remarkable paper, for which he obtained the Keith Prize of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, is entitled “On Reciprocal Figures, Frames, and Diagrams of Forces.” It is published in the Zyvamnsactions of the Society for 1870. Portions of it-had previously appeared in the Phil. Mag. (1864). The triangle and the polygon of forces, as well as the funicular polygon, had long been known; and also some corresponding elementary theorems connected with hydrostatic pressure on the faces of a polyhedron: but it is to Rankine that we owe the full principle of dia- grams, and reciprocal diagrams, of frames and of forces. Maxwell has greatly simplified and extended Rankine’s ideas: on the one hand facilitating their application to practical problems of construction, and on the other hand extending the principle to the general subject of stress in bodies, The paper concludes with a valuable extension to three dimensions of Sir George Airy’s “ Function of Stress.” His contributions to the Proceedings of the London Mathematical Society were numerous and valuable. I select as a typical specimen his paper on the forms of the stream-lines when a circular cylinder is moved in a straight, line, perpendicular to its axis, through an infi- nitely extended, frictionless, incompressible fluid (vol. iii, p. 224). He gives the complete solution of the problem ; and, with his usual graphical skill, so promi- nent in his great work on Electricity, gives diagrams of the stream-lines, and of the paths of individual particles NATURE [ Feb, 5, 1880 of the Aids The: =e are both interesting and in- structive in the highest degree. | In addition to those we have mentioned we cannot recall many pieces of experimental work on Maxwell’s part :—with two grand exceptions. The first was con- nected with the determination of the British Association Unit of Electric. Resistance, and the closely associated measurement of the ratio of the electrokinetic to the electrostatic unit. In this he was associated with Pro- fessors Balfour Stewart and Jenkin. The Reports of that Committee are among the most valuable physical papers of the age; and are now obtainable in a book-form, separately published. The second was the experimental verification of Ohm’s law to an exceedingly close approxi- mation, which was made by him at the Cavendish Labo- ratory with the assistance of Prof. Chrystal, In his undergraduate days he made an experiment which, though to a certain extent physiological, was closely connected with physics. Its object was to deter- mine why a cat always lights on its feet, however it may be let fall. He satisfied himself, by pitching a cat gently on a mattress stretched on the floor, giving it different initial amounts of rotation, that it instinctively made use of the conservation of Moment of Momentum, by stretching out its body if it were rotating so fast as otherwise to fal] head foremost, and by drawing itself together if it were rotating too slowly. I have given in this journal (vol. xvi. p. 119) a de- tailed account of his remarkable elementary treatise on “Matter and Motion,’ a work full of most valuable materials, and worthy of most attentive perusal not merely by students but by the foremost of scientific men. His “ Theory of Heat,” which has already gone through several editions, is. professedly elementary, but in many places is probably, in spite of its admirable definiteness, more difficult to follow than any other of his writings. In intrinsic importance it is of the same high order as his “ Electricity,” but as a whole it is zo¢ an elementary book. One of the few knowable things which Clerk- Maxwell did not know, was: the distinction which most men readily perceive between what is easy and what is hard. What he called hard, others would be inclined to call altogether unintelligible. In the little book wearediscussing there is matter enough to fill two or three large volumes without undue dilution (perhaps we should rather say, with the necessary dilution) of its varied contents. There is nothing flabby, so to speak, about anything Maxwell ever wrote: there is splendid muscle throughout, and an adequate bony structureto support it. ‘‘ Strong meat for grown men”. was one of his favourite expressions of com- mendation; andno manever more happily exposed the true nature of the so-called “popular science” of modern times than he did when he wrote of “ the forcible language “and striking illustrations by which those who are past hope “of being even beginners [in science] are prevented from “becoming conscious of intellectual exhaustion before “the hour has elapsed.” To the long list of works attached to. Maxwell’s name in the Royal Society’s Catalogue of Scientific Papers may now be added his numerous contributions to the latest edition of the ‘“ Encyclopedia Britannica”—Atom, At- traction, Capillarity, &c. Also the laborious task of pre- paring for the press, with copious and very valuable -——_.. ra ; | Feb. 5, 1880] NATURE 321 original notes, the “Electrical Researches of the Hon. Henry Cavendish.” This work has appeared only within a month or two, and contains ‘many singular and most unexpected revelations as to the early progress of the science of electricity. We hope shortly to give an account of it. The works which we have mentioned would of them- selves indicate extraordinary activity on the part of their author, but they form only a fragment of what he has published; and when we add to this the further state- ment, that Maxwell was always ready to assist those who sought advice or instruction from him, and that he has read over the proof-sheets of many works by his more intimate friends (enriching them by notes, always valuable and often of the quaintest character), we may well wonder how he found time to do so much. Many of our readers must remember with pleasure the occasional appearance in our columns of remarkably pointed and epigrammatic verses, usually dealing with scientific subjects, and signed a The lines on Cayley’s portrait, where determinants, roots of — 1, space of x dimensions, the 27 lines on a cubic surface, &c., fall quite naturally into rhythmical English verse ;—the admirable synopsis of Dr. Ball’s Treatise on Screws ;— the telegraphic love-letter with its strangely well-fitting volts and ohms; and specially the “ Lecture to a Lady on Thomson’s Reflecting Galvanometer,’’ cannot fail to be remembered. No living man has shown a greater power of condensing the whole marrow of a question into a few clear and compact sentences than Maxwell shows in these verses. Always having a definite object, they often veiled the keenest satire under/an air of charming innocence and waive admiration. Here are a couple of stanzas from unpublished pieces of a similar kind :—first, some ghastly thoughts by an excited evolutionist— To follow my thoughts as they go on, Electrodes I’d place in*my brain ; Nay, I’d swallow a live entozéon, New feelings of life to obtain-—— next on the non-objectivity of Force— Both Action and Reaction now are gone; Just ere they vanished Stress joined their hands in peace, and made them one, Then they were banished. It is to be hoped that these scattered gems may be collected and published, for they are of the very highest interest, as the work during leisure hours of one of the most piercing intellects of modern times. Every one of them contains evidence of close and accurate thought, and many are in the happiest form of epigram. I cannot adequately express in words the extent of the loss which his early death has inflicted not merely on his personal friends, on the University of Cambridge, on the whole scientific world, but also, and most especially, on the cause of common sense, of true science, and of religion itself, in these days of much vain-babbling, pseudo-science, and materialism. But men of his stamp never live in vain; and in one sense at least they cannot 7 This nom de plume was suggested to him by me from the occurrence of his initials in the well-known expression of the second Law of Thermo- dynamics (for whose establishment on thoroughly valid grounds he did so ap — much) oR J.C. M. die. The spirit of Clerk-Maxwell still lives with us in his imperishable writings, and will speak to the next genera- tion by the lips of those who have caught inspiration from his teachings and example. P. G. TAIT ——— ee a se CENTRAL AMERICAN BIOLOGY Biologia Centrali-Americana; or, Contributions to the Knowledge of the Fauna and Flora of Mexico and Central America. Edited by F, Duncane Godman- and Osbert Salvin. 4to. Zoology, Parts 1 and 2, 1879. Botany, Parts 1 and 2, 1879... (London, 1879, published for the Editors by R. H. Porter, 10, Chandos Street, Cavendish Square, W.) ; WENTY years ago the Natural History of Central America was almost unknown to us. With the exception of a few stray papers in periodicals—most of them of ancient date—the student had no means of becoming acquainted with the many rich and rare forms of life which are found in that part of the Neotropical Region. Mexican and Central American specimens were scarcely found in our museums, and were looked upon as the greatest rarities. Within recent years all this has beenchanged. Naturalists and collectors have ransacked every part of the Central-American Isthmus, from the frontiers of the United States down to the Panama Railway,.and though, no doubt, much remains to be done, the fauna and flora of this district are perhaps, on the whole, better explored than those of any other part of th region to which they belong. It is to one of the authors of the work now before us, more than to any other person, we believe, that this great change in our knowledge of the fauna and flora of Central America is due. Mr. Osbert Salvin first became interested in the plants and animals of Guatemala more than twenty years ago, when he was induced by the example of the late Mr, George Ure Skinner—a name’ well known to collectors of orchids and humming-birds, to visit this district and to explore the verdant forests of Vera Paz. Since that period Mr. Salvin has made three other journeys to Central America—accompanied on one of these occasions by his friend and fellow-labourer, Mr, Godman. Besides that, the joint collection of Central American birds and butterflies amassed by these two gentlemen, has been largely increased by the aid of native collectors employed in various parts of the Panamanic sub-region, while mammals and reptiles from the same sources have been furnished to the British Museum, and series of plants to the Royal Herbarium at Kew. Numerous papers contributed by Messrs. Salvin and Godman themselves, or by fellow- workers upon materials furnished by them to the Zdzs, the Proceedings of the Zoological Society, the Amnadls of Natural History, and other periodicals, testify to the success that has rewarded their efforts, not only as re- gards the discovery of new forms, but also as to the better knowledge of many which were previously but little known. After twenty-two years’ labour on the particulars our authors have wisely determined that the time is come when they may safely undertake a general werk upon this 322 NATURE [ Feb. 5, 1880. extensive subject. Under the title of “ Biologia Centrali- Americana” they accordingly propose to publish a series of quarto volumes, of which the first four numbers are now before us. These volumes will contain a series of essays upon the Fauna and Flora of Mexico and Central America, from the valleys of Rio Grande and Rio Gila, on the north, down to the Isthmus of Darien on the south—being the area embraced in what Mr. Sclater, we believe, has called the Panamanic or Transpanamanic division of his Neotropical Region. For the better perfecting of this great undertaking, the editors have wisely confined their own labours to the birds and butterflies, to which they have given their principal attention. In other groups they have obtained the assistance of their brother naturalists, and have, we must say, shown great qualifications for the editorial portion of their work, by making a very judicious selection of contributors. Mr. E. R. Alston, well known as a most efficient contributor to the Zoological Record, has undertaken the mammals. For the part devoted to the reptiles, amphibians, and fishes, the valuable services of Dr. Giinther have been secured; while for the Jand and fresh-water molluscs, our editors have gone as far as Berlin, whence Dr. E, von Martens has promised to give them his most efficient assistance. The crustaceans, or at least a small but particularly interesting division of them, have found a friend nearer home, in the person of Prof. Huxley, with whom we all know the Malacostraca are one of his pet subjects. The Arachnida have been assigned to the Rev. O. Pickard-Cambridge ; whilst the various groups of insects have been undertaken by different experts, amongst whom we notice the names of Mr. Bates, Mr. McLachlan, and Mr. Wood-Mason. The botanical portion has been placed in the hands of Mr. W. B. Hemsley, late of the Royal Herbarium of Kew. So much for the plan of the present work, which, when complete, will form, it is estimated, as many as twelve or thirteen volumes of 500 pages, although the authors, being still in constant receipt of additional collections, do not bind themselves to restrict their labours even to this liberal allowance. Let us now turn over the parts already issued, and see in what style they have commenced their somewhat ambitious undertaking. The two zoological parts contain the commencement of the essays on the mammals by Mr. Alston; on the Birds, by Messrs, Salvin and Godman; on the Butterflies, by the same gentleman ; and on the Longicorn Coleoptera, by Mr. Bates. All these groups, if we understand it rightly, are proposed to be treated of in nearly the same manner. Taking Mr. Alston’s contribution for an example, we find the commencement of a complete account of the mammals hitherto ascertained to occur within the limits of the Transpanamanic Sub-region. After a short general introduction on the monkey-life of Central America and a review of the previous authorities on the subject, Mr. Alston takes the species individually and gives us an excellent account of each of them, including its history, habits, and distribution. Out of the ten known genera of American monkeys, six are repre- sented by one or more species in Central America, and one of these (A¢e/es vellerosus) ranges as far north as the upper basin of the Tampico River, in the State of San Luis Potosi, about 23° N. L. This is the highest point north at which Quadrumana are known to occur in the New World; but in the Old World they certainly extend further north, as, besides the Rock of Gibraltar, a well- known locality of the Barbary Ape—the Japanese Island of Niphon is inhabited by a peculiar species of Macaque which probably extends northwards of the 35th parallel. In working up his next order, the Chiroptera, Mr. Alston has largely availed himself of the labours of Dr. Peters and Mr. Dobson, both well-known authorities on this difficult group, of which the Central American species are numerous, and of great interest. We are presented with an excellent figure of Chzroderma salvini, a discovery of Mr. Salvin’s in Costa Rica, recently described by Mr. Dobson. The Insectivora, which follow next in order, are but feebly represented in the Neotropical Region, where their place seems to be occupied by the small mar- supials of the family Didelphyide. Four species of shrews of the genera Sorex and Blarina are the only true insectivora yet known to’ occur within the limits of the present work. The “Aves’’ of the present work are undertaken by the two editors themselves, and are worked out in a somewhat more elaborate manner than are the mammals, Latin diagnoses of all the species are given, and besides the ordinary particulars as to their history and affinities many details as to their habits in their native wilds are extracted from well-stored note-books of the authors. The plates accompanying this division of the work, by Mr. Keulemans, are well executed and well- coloured. The “Rhopalocera,” also prepared by the editor, though in this case Mr. Godman’s name is placed first, as taking, we suppose, the greater share of the labour in this section upon himself, are likewise fully treated of and illustrated by some very beautiful plates. There is not, however, so much scope in this group for the records of personal observation as in the case of the birds. Besides the Mammals, Birds, and Butterflies we have in part ii. of the “ Zoology’’ the beginning of Mr. Bates’s - essay upon the Longicorn Coleoptera of Central America. Of this it need only be said that neither Mr, Bates’s ability to treat of any portion of one of his favourite groups of insects, nor the mode in which he has executed his present task are likely to be questioned. The thorough character of all Mr. Bates’s work is well known, and in this case its value is increased by the beautiful coloured plates by which some of the greater rarities are illustrated. Our editors may well be congratulated on having pressed such a first-class recruit into their service. Besides the two zoological parts above mentioned the botanical parts of the “‘ Biologia Centrali-Americana’’ by Mr. Hemsley have also been issued. These contain an enumeration of the Phanerogamous Plants of Central America as far as the Meliacez, according to Bentham and Hooker’s arrangement, with the localities added, and the characters in the case of the novelties recently described. Six or seven plates by Fitch are attached to each part, some of which are coloured from original sketches made by Mrs. Salvin in Guatemala. What the exact extent of the botanical portion will be we do not find stated, but we presume that it will when complete embrace a list of all the known Phanerogams of Central = A ‘ ’ i ; : . Feb. 5, 1880] om America, and we believe the Filices are also to be included. Weare pleased to see that at the conclusion of the work it is announced that an introductory volume will be given containing an account of the physical features of the country and a series of maps. No specially faunistic work should be issued in these days without a map, and in that map moreover all the localities mentioned in the letterpress should be inserted. Furthermore care should be taken that the names of the places should be spelt alike in the letter-press and in the map—a point which in several instances that have come before us, has not been sufficiently attended to. We are, however, fully aware that in the present case our authors are well acquainted with the value of geography —one of the two “ faces Zoologie,’ as the late Prince Bonaparte called it, and we do not fear that they will even spell their names of places incorrectly. And on the whole it may be fairly said that the “ Biologia Centrali- Americana,” if carried, and we doubt not it will be carried, to its promised extent, favoured as it is by the co-operation of some of the most accomplished naturalists of the day, will not only remain a lasting testimony to the learning and munificence of its editors, but will also equal in completeness and finish any geographical work on natural history ever published. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR [Zhe Editor does not hold himself responsible for opinions expressed by his correspondents. Neither can he undertake to return, or to correspond with the writers of, rejected manuscripts. No notice is taken of anonymous communications. [The Editor urgently requests correspondents to keep their letters as short as possible. The pressure on his space is so great that it ts impossible otherwise to ensure the appearance even of com- munications containing interesting and novel facts.] Visualised Numerals Ir may interest those who have read my memoir in NATURE, vol, xxi, p. 252, on visualised numerals, to learn some of the Priucipal results obtained thus far through its publication. I have received several new diagrams more or less similar to those already published, so that I have now about thirty of them in all. My new contributors are of the same classes as before. There is only one high mathematician among them; the re- mainder are pursuers of science, authors of various degrees of reputation, persons engaged in tuition, students at Oxford and Cambridge, some other adults, and one schoolboy. If my col- lection becomes still further increased, I have grounds for belief that I shall be able to classify the cases, and to extract more meaning out of them than has hitherto been feasible. It has been a satisfaction to me to receive emphatic acknow- ledgment of its correctness from the author of the curious shaded diagram (Fig. 5) in the memoir. The sketch sent to me was drawn with evident painstaking, but it was rubbed and faint; the engraver, however, succeeded in justly interpreting it, and supplying its defects of tone. Fig. 4 is unfortunate, and I am to blame. I stated in the accompanying text that I had compiled it from a large diagram, much as a map-maker would compile a small map from an elaborate itinerary. However, my map proves to be a failure, so I withdraw it. The other diagrams were almost exact reductions of plain drawings ; their truth has been acknowledged in one group of cases, and I have no grounds for doubt as to the remainder, FRANCIS GALTON 42, Rutland Gate, London A Psychological Aspect of the Vortex-Atom Theory Ir is a very generally accepted fact that the phenomena of thought are at least connected with a physical basis, however difficult it may be at present to trace the connection. The dependence, however, of mental attributes and sensations upon NATURE 323 brain-structure, is too notorious a fact to admit of doubt by competent judges, This view is illustrated well by a remark of Prof, Huxley’s in his essay ‘On the Physical Basis of Life,” viz. : ‘‘ And if so, it must be true in the same sense and to the same extent that the thoughts to which I am now giving utterance and your thoughts regarding them are the expression of molecular changes in that matter of life which is the source of our other vital phenomena” (/ortnightly Review, 1868). It becomes evident in view of this that the phenomena of thought would be enormously influenced by the changes or permutations of which the molecules of matter were capable. Under the old theory of perfectly rigid molecules, it would seem difficult to conceive permutations enough to act as an accompany- ing physical basis to the phenomena of thought, for according to this theory, the mere motion or change of place of the molecules among each other would be the sole permutations of which they could be capable. But the modern theory of vortex-molecules shows molecules to be elastic bodies, which are consequently ‘*capable of infinite changes of form” 1—as the late Prof. Clerk Maxwellremarks [Zucyc. Brit, 1875, Article “ Atom”]. It would therefore follow that according to the modern theory, the permu- tations of the physical accompaniment of thought would be absolutely zz/finite, in analogy with the infinite variety and range of thought itself. Possibly this may be a point of interest, if indeed it has not already been reflected on by others, London S. TOLVER PRESTON A Speculation Regarding the Senses ON examining the modes of action of the senses we find a series of advances in refinement. Beginning with /fouch, we find it has primarily to do with solids which come into direct contact with the organ. In éaste a diguid medium is necessary. In smeiZ we have minute particles carried by a gas. In /earing we have vibrations (longitudinal) ina gas. In sight, finally, we find transverse vibrations transmitted by a finer medium, the ether. Now, whatever views may be taken of the doctrine of evolu- tion, there can be no doubt of the progress of the human race in what we may generally here term fower. And it is interesting to look into the future and inquire whether future developments of the relations between the ego and the xon-ego may not, in time, take such forms as will be equivalent to the acquisition of new senses, : Guided by the gradation above referred to, I would throw out the suggestion that the molecular vibrations in the brain accompanying thought, may affect a surrounding medium, and through that, other brains at a distance, awaking in these corre- sponding vibrations and thoughts. The medium might be sup- posed, perhaps, one of different nature from that in which light- vibrations occur, or (not to multiply ethers) the same as the so-called luminiferous ether ; and in the latter case we might suppose the vibrations such as not to be appreciated through any of the present senses of ordinary persons. ie De A person of high refinement and delicate organisation has a wonderfully exalted power (as compared, say, with a country bumpkin) of interpreting the /owf ensemble of external appear- ance and bodily motions of another person in his presence, thereby perceiving at a glance much of the thought of that other, as it arises. But the kind of action I have referred to is of a still more delicate kind, and may be supposed to obtain when the eyes, and perhaps other avenues of sense, are closed, It might be termed a kind of ¢xa'uction of thought. This speculation is not, I think, without some encouragement in actual fact. It is a familiar experience that two persons who are together will discover themselves to have been thinking of the same thing at the same moment; and this without any apparent cause in what one sces in the other, or in association of ideas in conversation. The ascertained facts of clairvoyance and mesmerism, however, are what I have more specially in view, and the light in which I would place them is that of a natural development of human faculty, at present appearing only sporadically and in few persons, but destined, perhaps, t The molecules of matter, according to this theory, though indestructible (like the molecules of the ancients), are nevertheless e’astic, or capable of distortion or changes of form (much in analogy with larger scale elastic solids), the molecule always tending to recover its natural symmetrical shape when released from constraint. These changes of form may of course be conceived infinite in variety, without the total amount cf distortion itself being at any time great, This e/astictty possessed by molecules is sufficiently proved by the vibrations of varied periads which the spectroscope shows them to be capable of executing, 324 NATURE by-and-by to become a universal possession in more or less degree. : It may require some peculiar state of mental calm or abstrac- tion for this reading of the thoughts of another (apart from external expressions appreciated by the other senses) to become practicable, just as, in order to perceive distinctly the over-tones of a musical sound, it may be necessary to quench the funda- mental tone. As to the modification in the human body, supposing the sense in question to become general, this might be of a very minute character, constituting, not in the ordinary view, yet in a quite correct one, a distinct organ. With regard to the influence of distance on the supposed sense, little, of course, can be said ; but it is perhaps noteworthy that corresponding to the gradation referred to at the outset there is a general gredation in the distance at which the sense-exciting cause is capable of operating ; from the direct contact of touch, to the action of light at the distance of a remote fixed star. M. The Circumference of the Circle To some readers of Nature the following ‘construction will erhaps be of interest :— Take 4 OB, D C two diameters of a circle at right angles to one another, Make the length of the tangent D S equal to three diameters of the circle 4 D&C, then make the angle 4 O P= 60%, and another that it was **spotted.”” Who, says the professor, ‘‘ would have thought of looking for a notice of sun-spots in the clay tablets of ancient Babylonia?” Lectures, pp. 53-54. See also the ** Astronomy and Astrology of the Babylonians,” by the same, in the Zvansactions of the Society of Biblical Archzeology, vol. iii. pp. 145, 339. EDWARD PARFITT. Devon and Exeter Institution, Exeter, January 27 Intellect in Brutes Ir might prove interesting to some of your readers to put the following incidents on record relative to intellect in brutes :— Some time ago I kept in town a bitch and three of its puppies ; the former had a strong pair of lungs and a weakness for letting the passers-by know it; when the latter became of age they exhibited all the hereditary peculiarities of the mother, and when the four animals joined in chorus, which was their favourite amusement at night, the result was anything but agreeable. Some of my friends hinted to me that if that state of things continued I should probably be indicted for causing a nuisance, and I therefore determined to explain to my four animals that they really mustn’t bark. One night I remained late in town, and having provided myself with a stick, I waited till I heard - one of them bark, and I immediately afterwards went out and chastised him, or rather the one I thought had made the noise. I was, however, soon met by a difficulty ; although I could recognise the bark of the old one, I could not discriminate well bs between those of the puppies ; and whilst the old one was silenced after a few chastisements, the puppies were not; probably in mistake I had thrashed the wrong puppy. I therefore hit upon the plan of making the whole four responsible for each other, and as soon as I heard any one of them bark I applied my stick freely to the whole four, the one after the other. When this had been done two or three times I heard one of the puppies bark, and the next moment it gave a pitiful squeal ; the mother had it by the neck. I went out and draw PR at a right angle to DC. Connecting the points S and R# you will find the length #5 very nearly equal to the circum- ference of the circle. This will be clear from the following proof :— From the triangle D R S we have— RS=NDR+DS. But taking the diameter DC =1 the length DS is = 3, whereas DR = OD + OP cos 30° = 4 + cos 30 =0°9330127. Therefore— D R? = 0°9330127? = 0°8705127 and DS= 3 = 9'0000000 DR*+ DS? =9'8705127 RS=N DR + DS? = 3'141738, whereas the exact yalue of = is 3°141592, giving a difference of 0°000146, or 0°0046 per cent. This approximation is, of course, more than sufficient for practical purposes. Although this method has been found by me quite independently, yet I shall not be surprised to hear of its having been proposed before by others, for it is almost too simple not to have occurred to somebody else as well as to me. Prague, Spalena ulice, 2 nové, January 11 L. Hajnis Sun-Spots, &c, I READ with interest the letter of Mr. Bedford’s in NATURE, vol. xxi. p. 276, on ‘‘Sun-Spots.” Perhaps the following may interest Mr. Bedford, and as I haye not seen this noticed before by students of the solar orb, it may interest others besides Mr. Bedford. Prof. Sayce, in his Lectures, says: ‘* The Accadians had anticipated our almanack-makers in discovering a connection between the weather and the changes of the moon; indeed all kinds of astronomical phenomena were supposed to have an influence upon the clouds; and in anticipation, as it were, of Dr. Hunter, the same weather was expected to recur after a cycle of twelve solar years.” . . . Even the appearance of the sun was not allowed to go unnoticed, and in one place we are told that on the rst of Nisan it was ‘‘ bright yellow,” and in S patted her, thus explaining that she had done well. She wagged her tail, as much as to say she under- stood me perfectly, and the dogs never barked again except upon the most provoking occasions. _ Some other instances which I observed lately might be men- tioned as tending to show that animals of a much lower class exhibit reasoning faculties. I had occasion lately to keep some leeches and water-beetles ; they were put into round open glass vessels, about six inches high and about two-thirds full of water, A medical leech which was put into one of these vessels got out, and within an hour afterwards it was found on the table and replaced in the water. Now although the vessel was left un- covered as before, this leech never again tried to get out. A horse-leech and two water-beetles, treated in the same way did the same thing once, and once only ; each preferred the water to the dry table, and on being replaced they never tried to get out again; ergo, they had been taught by experience. Is this not a high order of intelligence? [low many examples have we of the genus 4omo where so much intelligence is not exhibited ? Manchester, January 17 W. THOMSON SEEING a letter in Nature, vol. xxi. p. 276, with the heading of a ‘‘ clever spider,” puts me in mind of a circumstance that came under my own observation near Tremadoe, in North Wales, many years ago. I sat down on a bank about four o’clock in the afternoon after a long day, when I presently saw I was close to one of the common garden spiders of rather large size, with its pretty spreading net-like web about a yard from the ground ; so, for want of something to do, I alarmed the spider to discover where his den was, when off he trotted about the distance of a foot toa couple of leaves nicely tied together, where he stayed perhaps ten minutes ; I then saw a beetle of rather large size walking at my feet—one of those slow moving dull black ones—I am not coleopterist enough to know its name; I picked it up and put it in the web at a place I thought suffi- ciently strong to hold it, when out rushed the spider in his boldest manner, But when he saw who his visitor was, what an alteration inhis manner! He drew back, and rapidly sepa- rated the cords, when down dropped the beetle on a single line, rather quickly, to within “about 4 inches of the ground, so that he was suspended on a line about 24 feet long. The spider then trotted back to his den, The beetle was now struggling in its slow, [ Feb. 5; 1880 — i * “s 7? Feb, 5, 1880] NATURE 825 awkward-looking fashion. I must have stayed and watched em for about twenty minutes, when out came the spider and descended the single line to the beetle, on which he boldly rushed ; after a few seconds the beetle’s struggles got weaker and weaker, when the spider returned to its den; in a few seconds more the struggles of the beetle ceased. Now, did the spider intend the beetle for its food when he cut away his web to save it from destruction from the beetle’s struggles, or was that an after-thought, or why should he know it was a **ereature comfort”? and was the fact of the line being so near the ground an accident, or was it premeditated? If you put a ‘small pebble or small piece of wood ina web, a spider will let it drop altogether ; if you put a grasshopper in it he rapidly turns it round till the creature looks like a mummy; but I suppose circumstances alter cases even with spiders. JAMeEs R, GREGORY TuE following fact may be of interest to those of your readers who are connected with the correspondence in your columns regarding the possession of intellect by brutes. Having been much worried by the depredations of bandicoots {Mus giganteus) I laid three pieces of bread for them smeared with Roth and Ringeisen’s phosphor paste. Next morning the pieces of bread were found near the door where they had been placed but turned wfside down, The bandicoot evidently was suspicious of the poison, had turned over the bread and nibbled ‘away all the sound portion. On the next night I smeared the oison on very thin Slices of bread, leaving hardly any of it free ‘om the paste. On this occasion the caution of the bandicoot seems to have deserted it, for the bread was eaten, and the dead animal was found next day in the garden. Bangalore, India, January 8 ELPHINSTONE BEGBIE Suicide of the Scorpion Apropos of the discussion on this point that has lately taken place in NATuRE, will you allow me to say that I tried the -experiment referred to therein a score of times at least during my long residence in India, and that I never saw the pheno- menon so graphically delineated by Byron. My experiments avere conducted in cholera and other camps, in the open air, often in the presence of others, and always under circumstances which could admit of no doubt. The conclusion I came to in the matter was that ‘‘the scorpion girt by fire” is too stupid or too cowardly a creature to ‘‘cure its pain by darting its sting,” or anything else, ‘‘into its desperate brain.” It either rushed Dlindly into the flames at once, and was then and there destroyed, -or it wandered meaninglessly about the margin of ‘‘ the circle,” recoiling nervously from the actual contact, or retiring as far as it could from the heat, to resume, after a short respite, its old manceuvres, I believe as the result of these inquiries that the impression or belief created by the fine imagery of the great poet is a myth and nothing more. Wm. CuRRAN Warrington Wit Mr. Gillman or some other tell us ow scorpions achieve suicide? The animal stings, as I know to my cost, by a back- ward lash out and straightening of the tail, and the force which drives the somewhat blunt point into the enemy goes on accumu- lating as the reversal becomes more complete, and reaches its maximum on or near the horizontal plane and at the furthest point of extension. But when the tail is drawn back above the animal’s head, the point is turned upwards, and therefore away from the head, and even if it could be turned towards the head, there is no possible force to drive it through the tough or hard carapace, Cana man pummel his own back? Can a horse kick its own belly? But the feat attributed to the scorpion, apart from its moral obliquity, is physically even more triumphant. B. Stags’ Horns OBSERVING in a late number of NaTuRE a communication concerning the disappearance of stags’ horns after being cast off, and a request for information upon the subject from whatever source it might be had, I venture to send the following :— A few winters ago I spent some weeks in the woods of Georgia, where most of my time was devoted to deer-hunting, In roaming over the woody Aummocks of that country I several times stumbled upon the cast-off antlers of bucks, Being, like your correspondent, impressed with the popular belief that these were always buried or in some way destroyed by the animals, I . inquired of old hunters if it was of common occurrence to meet with them, and was told that they were not rarely found just as we had seen them upon the occasion in question. I suppose that the popular beliefin their burial or destruction arose out of the fact that about the time for shedding their horns the bucks retire to the most secluded spots accessible so as to avoid dis- turbance by other bucks or any enemy during the first few days of the tender, velvety stage of the new horns, and into such retired places man does not commonly venture. This brings to mind the similar habit which prevails among most crustaceans. The edible crab of this region, for example, waits for a very high tide, and goes with it far inland, where, in shelter of some dark nook, and quite away from its common enemies, it slips off the old shell and spends a few hours on land awaiting the hardening process of the new one before entering again into the struggles of life. The fishermen have learned, however, that the most favourable times for catching soft crads is connected with certain phases of the moon, to which they attri- bute some mysterious influence upon the crabs directly ; of course the dependence of tides and moon solves this little mystery. BOLLING W. BARTON Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.A., January 22 MOUNTAIN BUILDING‘ BEV problems in physical geology are more fascinating than that which deals with the origin of mountains. At the same time few present greater difficulties. In the first place it is absolutely necessary to ascertain the facts of mountain structure before proceeding to frame any theory to account for them. Yet to do this involves an amount of mere physical toil which of itself raises a for- midable impediment to progress. Forthe mountains cannot be understood from a distance. One may not intuitively interpret them by merely looking at them from below. They must be climbed and scrutinised in detail from crest to crest and valley to valley. But to be able to understand what one sees in these elevated regions, one must have an eye that has been well trained in the observation of geological structure, and which, while losing sight of no essential detail, can yet detect the dominant lines amid the apparent disarray of crag and scar, slope and pin- nacle. In the next place, having elicited the fundamental facts, it is needful to find for them some explanation which, while connecting them harmoniously and lumin- ously, shall be in strict accordance with the laws of physics, and from the point of view of geological dyna- mics may be regarded as not only possible but probable. Thus two obvious paths lead to the consideration of the subject. By the one we are conducted into the region of geological observation in the field. By the other we are drawn to the laboratory and the workshop, where the processes of nature can in some measure be repeated and watched. But these two roadways lie near each other, and the traveller along either of them, if he would keep himself from profitless divergence, should never lose sight of the other. Unfortunately this caution has not always been followed. Hence theories of mountain growth have been proposed, some of them wholly regard- less of the real facts of mountain structure, others as defiant of physical possibilities. Within the last few years the most detailed studies of the actual structure of mountains yet attempted have been carried out among the Alps. Chief among these are the admirable monograph of Dr. Baltzer upon the Glarnisch, and the still more remarkable and beautifully illustrated work of Prof. Heim, on the mechanism of mountain- making. These two writers deserve the thanks of all who take interest in the many questions which the forms of the mountains never cease to raise in the mind. They r ie Mechanismus der Gebirgsbildung.”” Dr. F, Pfaff, (Heidelberg, 1879. - tion of mountains. 326 NATURE [ Feb. 5, 1880 SS ee Se a a bave done much to supply what has all along been a fundamental defect in the conditions for the discussion of the problem—the want of detailed and carefully observed facts. But geologists will never be able satisfactorily to work out the problem until they construct large detailed sections on a true scale, vertical and horizontal, and insert upon them the thicknesses and angles of inclination of the rocks in their exact relations. It would be a task well worthy of the time and energy which any enthusiastic student of the science could bestow to run such a section across the Alps, or at least across some typical portion of the chain. The true outlines and related structure as thus determined, would make most of the existing diagrams of alpine structure appear as ludicrous exaggerations. Among those who have essayed to follow in the wake of Sir James Hall, the founder of experimental geology, and to seek a solution of some of the problems of moun- tain building by well-devised experiments, Daubrée and Favre have in recent years been specially successful. Another experimenter has just appeared in the person of the accomplished Dr. Pfaff, of Erlangen. His previous works have shown him to possess no ordinary powers of scientific exposition, and in particular his “ Allgemeine Geologie als exacte Wissenschaft” deserves the attention of geologists as a remarkably incisive criticism of their science in its present aspects. He is essentially an experi- menter, who would reduce every geological problem if possible to the test of actual measurement and experiment. Some of his own practical work in this department is full of ingenuity and suggestiveness. He has now come for- ward as a disputant in the vexed question of the forma- His critical faculty, however, here shows itself rather destructive than constructive. He institutes numerous experiments to prove the inadequacy of previous theories, but he leaves us with very little that is satisfactory to put in their place. As we read Dr. Pfaff’s essay and note how he gravely argues as to the capabilities of rocks under pressure and the processes of mountain building, from what he has been able to do with a few square inches of limestone, a steel punch, and other appliances, we are reminded of the censure pronounced by Hutton on the temerity of those who ‘‘judge of the great operations of the mineral kingdom from having kindled a fire and looked into the bottom of a little crucible.’’ He forgets that while much may be learnt from experiment, it must always be first of all determined how far the conditions of experiment resemble those of nature. Thus he takes a solid cylinder of Solenhofen limestone 4mm. in diameter, tightly fitting into a hollow steel cylinder with a small aperture on one side, and subjects it to a pressure of 9,970 atmospheres for seven weeks. He then finds that the stone has not in the least degree been forced into the empty aperture pre- pared for it, and that its microscopic structure shows no sign of internal alteration or rearrangement. Accordingly he concludes that even with so high a pressure rock acquires no plasticity. With this conclusion no fault can be found until it is applied to the solution of problems in mountain structure. Surely Dr. Pfaff does not mean to affirm that there is any analogy between his solid cone of tomogeneous limestone tightly fitting into a steel cylinder and the alternations of various sediments differing so much in texture, structure, density, and inclosed water which constitute most of the visible part of the earth’s crust. He does not seem to be aware of the fact that rocks have been experimentally proved to be plastic under much less pressure than he applied. We would recommend him to read the classical memoir of Sir James Hall and the researches of Daubrée and Tresca on the flow of solids. He will find also some convincing proofs in Mr. Miall’s paper on the contortion of rocks, that even on the surface, under every-day conditions, not inconsider- able curvatures of solid stone take place merely through “gravitation. If he will visit this country we shall be happy to conduct him to some graveyards where the centres of vertically-placed slabs of Italian marble have, under the influence of weathering, been started out from their backing, so that they ‘‘belly”’ out like partially- filled sails. Dr. Pfaff does not, of course, deny that rocks have been violently compressed and contorted, and he is no doubt well aware that their inclosed fossils have often undergone extraordinary deformation. He contends, however, that these are mere superficial phenomena, and endeavours to support and explain his contention by sections of the earth’s crust, about which we venture to predict that Prof. Heim and his Swiss colleagues will have something to say before long. Dr. Pfaff has a theory of his own to explain curvature and deformation. He re- gards these as the results of the co-operation of water with gravity! Though hitherto no Neptunist, he now dis- tinctly avows himself as a believer in the paramount power of water in the elevation of mountains. It isa pity that after more than a hundred pages devoted to the demolition of all our views as to the effects of terrestrial contraction due to secular cooling, he should tantalise us with a mere brief statement of his own theory. Perhaps it seems so self-evident to himself, that it needs no elaborate experi- ments to prove its truth, and no expanded statement to insure its acceptance. That a man at this time of day can honestly persuade himself that the upheaval of moun- tains, the plication, inversion, and deformation of rocks can be accounted for merely by the effects of subsidence due to the abstraction of materials from below by perco- lating water seems incredible. But that such a creed should be professed by one who has shown himself so. good an observer and so acute a reasoner, is still more astonishing. When, after perusing the greater part of his book, and noting argument after argument, and experiment after experiment brought forward to upset all accepted theories on the subject, one comes sud- denly and without warning upon his own theory, it is as if some rogue had incontinently put the lamp out. One does not know what to make of the situation. There is something too ludicrous about it. Serious argument is no longer possible. Dr. Pfaff must be bantered out of his hydropathic geology. His abilities. are too great to be lost in a monomania of this kind. We would recommend for his speedy restoration to geological sanity a trip into Switzerland, under the care of Drs. Baltzer and Heim. This treatment, if taken in time, will, no doubt, restore him at least to such measure of health as can be enjoyed by a man who works out his geology in his study and laboratory rather than in the field. ; AiG: THE SWEDISH NORTH-EAST PASSAGE EXPEDITION THE following notes are taken from a letter from Prof: Nordenskjéld to Mr. Oscar Dickson, dated Ceylon, December 16, 1879, printed in the Gdteborgs Handels Tidning :-— Dredging was carried on at a number of places on the coast of Japan, but with scanty results, in consequence of the poverty of the sea-bottom in animal life. The same was the case with the dredgings which were carried on between Hongkong, Labuan, and Singapore, and in the Strait of Malacca, although the bottom consisted in some places of clay, in others of sand, coral-sand, or rock, and thus ought, at least at some of the places, to be favourable to the development of a rich animal life. While the trawl-net in the Polar Sea almost always brought up several hundred animals, the zoologist in these southern seas obtained seldom more than one or two at each draw, and frequently not one. By far the most abundant animal life has been found during the Swedish Arctic expeditions, at favourable places in the ————— Feb. 5, 1880] bottom of the Polar Sea; for example, at a depth of between 20 and 1oo fathoms in the middle of Hinloopen Strait in Spitzbergen, on the east coast of Novaya Zemlya, in the sea east of Cape Chelyuskin, and south of Behring’s Straits. At these places the temperature of the sea all the year round is between 0° and - 27 C. A temperature at or under the freezing point appears thus to be much more favourable for the development of an abundant animal life at the sea-bottom than one of 15° to 25° C., a very remarkable circumstance, which, as far as Nordenskjédld knows, has not received the attention which it deserves. It is to be remarked, how- ever, that the invertebrate animals in the south are larger and finer than in the north, and that the shore fauna, which is entirely absent in the sea of the high north on account of the destructive action of the drift-ice, is here richly developed. Japan is so poor in land- and fresh-water crustacea, that one often searches for hours in the most favourably situated places without finding a single specimen. Even in the most northerly part of Scandinavia more land crustacea may in many places be collected in a few hours than in Japan in as many days. Lieut. Nordquist, how- ever, has made a fine collection, which is expected to yield many interesting new contributions to the fauna of apan. In the numerous dredgings carried on during the voyage from Japan to Ceylon at depths in which alge are met with in abundance on the coasts of Scandinavia, nol a single alga was brought up by the dredging appa- vatus. Even in the shore belt marine plants are in many places almost wholly wanting. Some places were found, however, more fortunately situated. The observations made here and the information obtained by an examina- tion of the collections in the museums of Tokio have enabled Dr. Kjellman to obtain a general view of the occurrence of alge on the east coast of Japan of special interest in many respects in connection with researches carried on by him during the preceding part of the voyage, for example, with respect to the boundaries of the areas occupied by different alge, with respect to the mutual relation between the abundance of individuals and species at different places, and with respect to the types which are to be considered distinctive of the dif- ferent areas. The lichen flora of Japan was examined by Dr. Alm- quist. In the more elevated regions, as on the sides of the mountain Fusijama, 13,000 feet high below the snow limit, at a height of 6,000 to 8,000 feet above the sea, it has a certain resemblance to that of Scandinavia, but in the low country it is limited to a very few localities. In the purely tropical countries, for instance at Labuan and Singapore, the lichens appear to be confined almost ex- clusively to the bark of trees, and the whole of this divi- sion of the vegetable kingdom here consists mainly of a single group, Sclervolichenes, which occur in abundance and in very varying types. Prof. Nordenskjéld and Lieut. Hovgaard ascended the mountain Asamajama, a still active volcano, 8,200 feet high, on October 4. Prof. Nordenskjéld has made extensive collections of fossil plants from fossiliferous strata at Mogi, a fishing village on the coast of Japan, and from the coal-mine Takasima, both in the neighbourhood of Nagasaki, and from the coal-seams at Labuan. The fossils from Mogi lie in a fine white clay slate, and consist almost exclusively of beautiful leaf impressions. At Takasima the fossils consist principally of water plants imbedded in the brownish-black shale which accompanies the coal. At Labuan the fossils lie imbedded in balls of clay-ironstone found in the sandy beds between the coal-seams. They consist of ferns, Cycadee, and large-bladed leaf-trees, which appear to have a tropic stamp, while the Mogi fossils, on tthe other hand, indicate a moderately warm climate. NATURE 327 AN ELECTRO-DYNAMOMETER FOR MEASURING LARGE CURRENTS* Se use of electric machines of large size for the generation of currents of great strength has become extensive, and promises to increase materially. In con- nection with this, the best mode of measuring the currents obtained is a matter of much importance as well as one of some difficulty. Of the possible methods the galvanometric is probably the most used, but it is objectionable as shunts of low resistance must be employed. In general, a method depending upon the estimation of a very small propor- tional part of the magnitude to be measured is objection- able, since extreme accuracy is necessary and errors of observation are magnified. The mode of measurement by the electro-dynamometer is to be preferred for many reasons, and it has also the advantage of being applicable to to-and-fro currents, as well as to those in one direction. Weber’s electrodynamometer is only suitable for mea- suring very small currents unless shunts are used. Trow- bridge has designed an electro-dynamometer through which large currents may be transmitted and directly measured (Proc. Am, Acad. Arts and Sci., October 9, 1878). This instrument works well and gives good results. «» During the past year the writer has been experimenting at the U.S. Torpedo Station with an electro-dynamo- meter differing from Trowbridge’s in the manner of deter- mining the deflective power of the current, and which seems to present some advantages in simplicity and readi- ness of working, while especially suitable for technical use. In its general plan, particularly in the arrangement by which the entire current may be passed through the instrument, it follows Trowbridge’s form. Fig. 1 is a general view of the instrument. Figs. 2 and 3 show the details of the suspended coil. The large, fixed coils are made of thick copper ribbon. The turns are insulated from each other, and the metal framework is insulated from the coils. The suspension arrangement 1 By Walter N. Hill, Chemist to the U.S. Torpedo Station, Newport, R.L, U.S.A. 328 NATURE. * is placed on the top’ of the fixed coils and insulated from them. The deflecting coil is made of thick copper ribbon fastened with insulated rivets. In its centre, and parallel with it, is a light brass rod or pointer. A copper rod in connection with the outer end of the coil has.an iron or nickel-plated point, which dips in mercury contained in a double-walled metal cup, B, on the base-board, A similar rod from the inner extremity of the coil ends in an iron or nickel-plated cup, C, containing mercury. The coil hangs under the metal cylinder, D, so that a plunger, A, in the latter can dip in the mercury in the cup € of the former. The suspension is of fine sewing silk, waxed or treated with shellac. The thread passes over alittle pulley, E, above, with both parts parallel, or nearly so, and close together. As represented in Fig. 1, the large coils are connected in series. The current, after traversing the left-hand coil, is led by a wire to the cylinder, D, thence by the plunger, A, to the cup, C, through the small coil to the cup, B, which is connected by a wire with the right- hand coil. In order to prevent heating of the mercury c nnections, a stream of cold water is passed through the hollow plunger, A, and between the walls of B, from a jar above, connected by rubber tubes. When the current passes, the suspended coil is power- fully deflected, but its actual movement is limited by a vertical wire stop, against which the pointer-rod strikes. To the pointer-rod are attached, on opposite sides, two silk threads which lead over pulleys on the side-bars to small pans, one on each side of the instrument (Fig. 1). The pulleys are light, nicely balanced, and turn on hardened steel pivots. When deflection has occurred, weights are added to the pan on the side opposite until the pointer- rod returns to its starting-point. A scale is marked on the cylinder in front of the instrument (Fig. 1), and a pointer of aluminium wire is fastened to the rod in the centre of the movable coil, sq that it traverses the scale (a more convenient mode of noting the return of the coil might be taken), The pans are of the same weight, and the threads by which they are hung are silk fibres. The friction of the pulleys is very small and would be trifling if they were made with jewelled bearings. Also one balances or nearly balances the other, so that practically their friction may be neglected, although allowance might be made for it, if extreme nicety were aimed at. The actual observation is made when the coil is in the zero position, the weight taken being that required to balance the deflecting force. The movement of the pulleys is then very slight, and the weight acts exactly at right angles to the pointer-rod. For the measurement of the large currents derived from dynamo-electric machines, minuteness is not de- manded, since the variations due to fluctuations in the currents, alterations in resistance, &c., are much greater than the limits of observation in such an instrument as this. Quickness and simplicity of working, together with strength and compactness, are required in the electro- dynamometer, and this instrument possesses these practical advantages, while it is capable of a good degree ofaccuracy. The instrument shown in the figures was made for experimental trial, and is defective in certain details; still it was found to be a good working piece of appa- ratus. Theory of the Instrument.—The expression for the strength of current is very simple. The weight found is that required to balance the deflective force and is ob- served at zero, so that the earth’s and local attractions ore avoided, nor does the torsion of the suspension enter. et S = strength of current in webers. w = weight used in milligrammes. Z = length of weight-arm, or distance from point where weight acts, to centre of system. G = constant of large coils. £ = constant of small coil, ' : C = constant of instrument or length of magnetic arm, By the theory of the electro-dynamometer, the force acting to deflect is represented by the expression 27 be 7 KY Melt which *ne is the constant of the large coils or G, and g the constant of deflecting coil.. This force acts with the arm C and is balanced by the weight acting with thearm Z Hence Ss? a lw ; a CGg The coils being large, G and. g are readily ascertained ; ; i L tere sph nese ces sroeparergnery With the instrument in question, C was found by passing the same currents through it and through Trowbridge’s dynamo- meter, the constant of which was accurately known. C, 4, G, and g being known, it is evident that from the observed w,.S may be obtained with little calculation. Or, a table may be drawn up from which the value from measurement, and Z is a known distance. desired can be derived by inspection. Also, a set of weights can be prepared which will represent the current in webers directly. Doubtless this will often be convenient. The instrument described has been worked with cur- rents as small as 10 webers, but it is not quite sensitive enough for such use. With those of 20 webers. and upwards it operates satisfactorily. Greater nicety of construction would confer greater sensitiveness, and it is probable that this method of observation can be advan- -tageously applied in the construction of instruments for suring moderate currents. It is, however, evident t this form of the electro-dynamometer is particularly table for /avge currents. We have } S:S':: Vw: Nw. That is, as the current increases, the corresponding weights increase more rapidly and greater accuracy and minuteness are attained. : . - Thus, as the instrument I have experimented with has been arranged, a current of 20 webers requires a weight of 530 mg. 21 » ” ” 580 ,, diff. 50 mg. 49 ” ” ” 3,165 55 y ; 50 » ” ” 3,295 ,, diff. 130 mg. 80 » ” ” 8,230 , ‘ 81 is » 0 8,440 ,, diff. 210 mg. while a difference of 10 mg. is sharply indicated. My best thanks are due to Prof. John Trowbridge, of Harvard, for advice and the use of his apparatus. NOTES THE Committee appointed by the French Minister of Public Instruction has awarded the Prix de Volta—so,o00 francs—to Graham Bell A TRANSLATION of ‘‘ The Skies and Weather Forecasts” of Aratus, by Mr, E. Poste, M.A., of Oriel College, Oxford, will shortly be published by Messrs, Macmillan and Co. These poems, apart from a certain charm in the treatment of the sub- ject, are not without interest as belonging to the literature of infant astronomy and infant meteorology. The meteorology of Aratus is of course merely a specimen of the popular weather wisdom of his day, But the faith it shows in the possibility of a science, and the sense of the importance of such a science, gives him a certain claim to the attention of modern scientific men. The notes to Mr. Poste’s translation will be addressed merely to novices in astronomical knowledge. THE New York Times announces the death at Waukegan, IL, on January 6, of Mr. James W, Milner, at the age of thirty-nine. When barely arrived at man’s estate he travelled through Min- nesota and the adjoining States, engaged in making collections, At Waukegan Mr. Milner made some remarkable discoveries in the peat-beds, and the remains of an elk which he exhumed were exhibited for quite ainumber of years in the Chicago Academy of Sciences, until they were destroyed by fire, Such papers as Mr, Milner had written on these remains and on other topics of a a similar character, from their singular terseness and excellence, attracted the attention of the Smithsonian Institution, A correspondence, ensuing between the Smithsonian and Mr. Milner eventually led to his engagement by the present secretary, Prof. Spencer F, Baird, and, in 1871, Mr. Milner was appointed Deputy United States Fish Commissioner, with the particular duty of studying the habits, food, method of breeding, and atching of the white-fish. From these labours in what some six or seven’ years ago was quite unknown ground, resulted a work of the most thorongh and exhaustive character, which may be cited as a model of patient and elaborate research. From the period of his entrance into the United States Fish Commission his labours were incessant. In the study and development of practical fish-culture, as understood in its widest sense, Prof, Milner may be said to have done more for it than any one else in the United States. His ingenuity and adaptiveness, combined with his thorough grounding in natural history, permitted him to solve many things in fish culture which before his time had been as problems, The wonderful successes he achieved soon made him a leading authority on these subjects, both at home and abroad, NATURE - THE death is announced, at the age of sixty-three years, of Mr. David Thomson, Professor of Natural Philosophy in the University of Aberdeen. M, WALFERDIN, the inventor of the minimum thermometer, died at Paris at the end of January at the age of eighty-five, after a protracted illness of many years’ duration. He was one of the members of the Constituent Assembly of 1848. Since that time he devoted all his leisure to scientific ‘and artistic pursuits. He collected almost every picture drawn by Fragonard, one of the most celebrated French artists of the end of the eighteenth century. He sold his gallery to an English nobleman about twenty years ago, on condition that he should be appointed during his lifetime keeper of the gallery, with a salary of 5007, a year, and that the gallery should be ‘exhibited at his own rooms, This precious collection will shortly come to England. WE regret to state that General Morin, the well-known director of the Conservatoire des Arts et Métiers, is lying in a very pre- carious state in consequence of a severe cold, Great anxiety is felt for him at the Institute, of which-he is one of the most respected and popular members, The General is aged eighty- five years. ON Monday Prof. W. K. Parker, F.R.S.,:commences a series of nine lectures at the Royal College of Surgeons, on the Struc- ture and Functions of the Vertebrate Skeleton, to be continued on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, to the 27th inst. Prof. Flower, in continuation of previous courses, begins his series of nine lectures on the Comparative Anatomy of Man, on March 1, to be continued as above to March 19. WE are glad to learn that the College of Surgeons have seen their way to the purchase of the Barnard Davis Anthropological Collection, and that Prof. Flower is superintending the removal of the collection to the museum of the College. THE death is announced of Sir Dominic Corrigan, the well- known Dublin physician, at the age of eighty years. On Tuesday afternoon the problem set by the accidental explosion of the 38-ton gun on board the 7iunderer was solved by the explosion of the sister gun with a double loading. The gun was carefully loaded, and then a diagram was painted out- side the gun showing the positions of the two charges and their projectiles. First was rammed home the Palliser cartridge of 110 Ibs, of pebble powder, next the Palliser shell of 110 Ibs., and the papier-maché wad. The second charge followed— namely, 85 ibs. of powder, a common shell, and another wad, and the double loading was complete. As marked on the outside of the gun, the 85 Ibs, of powder lay just in the position where the gun swells in thickness to strengthen the powder chamber. After the firing the little dark cell was found strewn with fragments of the gun, the breech end only of which remained on the carriage, resembling with marvellous fidelity its unfortunate companion now exhibited in the Royal Gun Factories. WE notice in the January number of the Archives des Sciences Naturelics an interesting letter by Col. Ward, on the meteorology of the high regions of Switzerland during December last. Whilst the valleys were covered with a thick fog, and the sun was visible only for very short intervals, bright sunshine glowed about Rossiniéres (a small town close by Chateau d’Oex, altitude about 3,240 feet) ; here the sun was seen daily for twenty-seven days, and twenty-one days were absolutely cloudless. On December 25 Col, Ward climbed Mont Cray, a mountain 6,793 feet high, situated between Rossiniéres and Chateaux d’Oex, The view from the top was never so clear and wide; it reached as far as seventy miles in each direction; the mountains of Lake Con-: stance, the Bernese Oberland, Monte Rosa, Mont Blane, the Vosges, and even the Black Forest, were quite distinguishable, as wel! as the plateau north of Mont Cray, with the towers of Friburg and Romont. On the contrary, a thick fog covered. - 339 NATURE [ Feb. 5, 1880 a = Lakes Geneva, Neuchatel, Morat, and Bienne, and the neigh- bouring valleys. The quite level surface of this fog is likened to that of a sea of milk which reached as high as 500 feet beneath the 4,900 feet high Col de Jaman, At Rossiniéres the planet Venus was seen with the naked eye in daylight from October 23 until the end of December, ANOTHER interesting note, by Prof. Plantamour, inserted in the same number of the Archives, deals with the temperature of the St. Bernard. It happens every year that the temperature on the St. Bernard, during several hours, or even during several days, of December, is higher than at Geneva, But during December, 1879, this anomaly lasted for a far longer period of time than usual; the average temperature of December on the St. Bernard (2,070 metres above Geneva) was 8°'4 Celsius higher than at Geneva ; out of the thirty-one days of the month only during fourteen days was it from 004 to 6°°2 Celsius lower thanat Geneva, whilst during seventeen days it exceeded this by 2° to 16°°4 (16°°4 on December 1, 13° on December 5, 7, and 31; 11° onthe 8th, 13th, and 30th, and so on). Pref, Plantamour ob- serves also how difficult it is in such cases to determine the mean temperature of the stratum of air between the two stations, and how great the error of the barometrical levelling and of the reduction of the observed pressure to the sea-level would be if we applied the barometrical formula to such cases when the usual distribution of heat is inverted as it was during December last. As to the temperature at Geneva, it was, during this month, 6°’9 Celsius lower than the average for fifty years ; this difference exceeded four times the probable difference which, when deduced from fifty years’ observations, is only + 1°°72, the probability of such a difference being only 0*005. THE results of a recent instructive experiment in sylviculture, extending over seventeen years, have been communicated to the French Academy by M. Gumand. His conclusions are as follows :—(1) That light when it strikes the ground, after being sifted in the foliage, stimulates the production of carbonic acid in the decompositions which produce humus, and also the decom- position of that gas by the green parts, (2) That the growth of tall trees is retarded, though their green parts expand freely in the atmosphere, under direct impression of the luminous rays, when the lower covert formed by trees of smaller size intercepts too completely the access of light to the ground, and diminishes its reflex action on the tops of the tall trees. (3) That the covert formed by underwood weakens this reflex action of light on the vegetation of tall trees rather by its composition, than in any other way; since, after a clearing which suppresses the oblique shoots, the vertical shoots retained do not offer any obstacle. (4) That humus, under too dense a covert, loses a part of its efficacy, and herein resembles farm-dung, which, too deeply buried, remains inert for several years. Lm résumé, it is demonstrated how the vegetation of tall trees may be improved by operating on the composition, consistence, and duration of the underwood. A CORRESPONDENT of the Zimes writing from the Royal Mail Steamer Para at sea, January 17, records a volcanic eruption in the Island of Dominica, and also disastrous floods in St. Kitts. On Sunday, January 4, at 11.5 a.m., the inhabitants of Roseau, the capital of Dominica, a town situate on its western shores, were suddenly plunged into almost total dark- ness, for, although it had been raining heavily all the morning, the sky up to half-past ten was fairly clear, and there was no warning of what was to come except a strong smell of sulphur pervading the atmosphere, and this, in an island abounding in sulphur springs, is so usual that few of the inhabitants had even noticed it. With the strange darkness came torrents of milk- white water, mixed with black volcanic sand and ash, flashes of bright red lightning, peal after peal of thunder, while ever and anon between the peals could be heard a strange subterranean noise like the breaking of waves on a lee-shore, This lasted nearly fifteen minutes, When daylight was restored the town was found to be covered with ashes an inch deep, and the sur- rounding country presented a most abnormal appearance. The cause of this strange volcanic phenomenon did not long remain a mystery, for next morning, during a lull in the deluge of rain, there could he seen hanging over the “ Boiling Lake” crater, and in clear outline against the sky, a cloud such as the younger Pliny describes as having hung over Vesuvius in August, 79, of our era, The now famous ‘ Boiling Lake” of Dominica is the centre of a large crater in the southern extremity of the island, called the Grand Souffriére Hills. During the eruption nearly all the rivers in the island overflowed their banks, and in the Point Mulatre River, which rises from the crater of the ‘ Boiling Lake,” all the fish, even those near to the estuary, died, and were subsequently taken out in basketfuls by the natives. The flood in St. Kitts occurred on Sunday, January 11. The storm began about 10 P.M with heavy rain, which’ gradually increased in intensity until midnight, when it almost seemed to be rain, and seemed to assume the character of a falling waterspout. During this time there were occasionally strong blasts of wind, very vivid lightning, and once or twice a tremulous undulating movement of the earth. There was, however, only one severe shock, and it is said to have occurred about 2.30 A.M. on the 12th, when the full fury of the storm was attained, After this it began to decrease in violence, and at 4.30 all was silent, and the work of destruction was over, AN international exhibition of plants and flowers will be held at Weisbaden during the approaching summer. AT Geneva an international exhibition of clocks and watches, and of all machines, implements, utensils relating to clock making, will be held during May and June next. IcE-BLOCKS have been formed not only at Saumur but also at Lyons. These occurrences are not unexampled, as it appears that in the terrible winter of 1840 the Vistula was also blocked by ice, close to Dantzig ; the result was that the stream opened a new bed in a sandy and hilly ground. The channel for pre- venting the level of water rising higher than the top of the embankments has been bored by explosions in the Saumur ice- berg. The work was begun on the 16th and was ended on the 22nd, The section is from 10 to 20 metres. Since that time the engineers have heen busy enlarging it, and the work is pro- gressing favourably. The iceberg has been measured carefully, and estimated at 15,000,000 cubic metres. The navigationarm, on the right side, has been hopelessly blocked, and no work has been tried. The weather is splendid, the sun extremely hot during day, but the nights are very cold. On Tuesday morning all the streets were covered with ice. Ir has been noted that during the present weather crisis the Montsouris electrometers have shown nota single negative reading. This positive state has continued for the Jast three months- The readings are taken eight times a day. Tue recently opened Albert Institute at Windsor made a good beginning on January 20 with an interesting lecture by Mr. F. Drew, of Eton, on ‘* The Objects aimed at by the Institute.” Mr. Drew showed the great interest attaching to the study of the various branches of science, giving some useful practical hints as to how the study both of science and of literature may be most effectnally carried out. WE notice a useful Russian work by M. Tchikoleff, on ‘‘ The Electric Light andits Applications to Military Purposes,” being a thorough description, with numerous figures of the various apparatus employed in the armies of various countries. Mr. Gorpon Hormgs’s work on ‘*Vocal Physiology” is not published at Edinburgh, but by Messrs. Churchill, of London, 2b. 5, 1880] NATURE 331 additions to the Zoological Society’s Gardens during the ca werk include a Feline Dourocouli (Vyctipithecus vociferans) from Brazil, presented by the Right Hon. H. Hugh Childers, ~P. ; an Ocelot (e/is pardalis) from British Guiana, presented y Mr. G. Whitmore Christie ; a Little Grebe (Podiceps minor), British, presented by Mr. Thos. Edward Pryce ; five Undulated Grass Parrakeets (Melopsittacus undulatus) from Australia, _ deposited ; a Black Lemur (Lemur macaco) from Madagascar, a Tamandua Anteater (Zamandua tetradactyla) from Brazil, purchased, OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN SOLAR PARALLAX FROM THE VELOCITY or LigHt.—Mr. D. P. Todd, of the American Nautical Almanac Office, publishes an interesting note upon this subject. Remarking that the oppo- sition of Mars in 1862, when the planet approached near the earth, and the experimental determination of the velocity of light in the same year, mark the beginning of a new era in the history of the determination of the solar parallax, he refers to the many values of this constant which have since been worked out, and the fact that although theoretically the better class of these determinations should yield values in consistent harmony with each other, there are at present singular and unaccountable discordances. Prof, Newcomb’s mean value of the parallax, $848, he observes, was regarded with caution only because it was considered too small, the researches of Hansen, Leverrier, Stone, and Winnecke appearing to place the parallax consider- ably outside Newcomb’s value. Within the last two or three years, however, Mr, Todd remarks that “ the parallactic pendulum has swung quite to the lesser extremity of the arc until the true value of the solar parallax has appeared possibly below 8/8, and that, too, with good reason.” But now there seems to bea slight gravitation towards a central value, and he thinks it is not possible to say that the mean equatorial horizontal parallax of the sun is so much as the hundredth part of a second different from the old figure, 8’°813 (272 centesimal) adopted by La- place in the A/écanique Céleste, and resulting from the early dis- cussions of the transits of Venusin 1761 and 1769, Fizeau made the first experimental determination of the velocity of light in 1849, but the earliest which can lay claim to the merit of trustworthiness is that of Foucault in 1862, who found it 298,000 kilometres per second, expressing confidence in it to about one-six-hundredth part, though Mr. Todd estimates the probable error twice as great. Next we have the first deter- mination by Cornu, detailed in the Yournal de 2 Ecole Polytech- nique, 1874, which is 298,500 kil. = 1,000. The second deter- mination by Cornu, related in the Annales de I’ Observatoire de Paris, t. xiii., 300,400 kil. + 300; Helmert’s rediscussion of these experiments in 1876 assigns 299,990 kil. , the probable error of which value Mr. Todd estimates at 200kil. Then follow two determinations by Mr, A. A, Michelson, U.S. Navy, to the first of which, 300,100 kil., he assigns equal weight with the earlier value of Cornu ; the second, briefly described in the American Fournal of Science for November, 1879, Mr. Todd interprets, giving equal weight to the one hundred separate determinations, to imply a velocity of 299,930 kil. 4100, Assigning weights to these various values, he finally deduces for the velocity of light, 299,920 kilometres, or 186,360 miles per second. The next step for the determination of the distance of the sun from the earth is the combination of this value with astronomical constants: (I.) Theory and observation of Jupiter’s satellites afford a result of the interval of time required by light in traversing the mean distance of the earth from the sun, but there are only two precise determinations of this interval, astronomically speaking ; the first by Delambre in his Tables of the satellites, which was also adopted by Damoiseau in his later tables, published in 1836, the second by M. Glasenapp, of the Observatory of Pulkowa, in 1874, from twenty-five years’ observations of the first The Mechanical Theory of Heat. By R. Clausius. Translated by Walter R. Browne, M.A at +, late Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge, A Hand-book of Double Stars, “With a Catalogue of Twelve Hundred Dowie Stars ing the Measures up to 1879. and Extensive Lists of Measures. For the use of amateurs, - and James M. Wilson, M.A, F.R.A\S, With Illustrations, With aiddioual By Edw. leas F.RAS., _ Joseph ‘Gledh _ 8vo, $6. Studies on Fermentation, The Diseases of Beer, Their Causes and the Means of Preventing them. By L. Pasteur. Index, and Oftiginal Illustrations, By Frank ‘Faulkner and D. Constable Robb, B.A. 8vo, $6. “he ‘ - Blowpipe Anotysis, _ By J. Landauer. Authorized English Edition, by James Taylor and William EB, Kay. 16mo, $1.50. Units and Physical Constants, By J. D. Everett, M.A., D.C.L., F.R.S., etc., Professor of Natural Philosophy in Queen’s College, Belfast, ‘ An Introduction to the Theory of Electricity, — . iAtpe numerous Examples. By Linnzeus Cumming, M.A. Second Edition, Aw Bran = . with Corrections and ‘Addition Pharmacographia. ‘ ; ' A History of the Principal Drugs of Vegetable Origin met with in Great Britain and British India. ‘By : Fliickiger and Daniel Hanbury, F.R.S. Second Edition. 8vo, half bound, $s. The Metaphysics of the School, : a By Thomas Harper, S.J. 8vo, §5. : r | The Electrical Researches of the Hon. Henry Cavendish, rite Written aperares 1771 and 1781. Edited from the original MS. by J. Clark Maxwell, F.R.S. 8yo, $5. of ; Hgpaynaintes a et Na ; A Treatise on the Mathematical Theory of the Motion of Fluids, By Horace Lamb, M.A., Professor of Math the University of Adelaide. 8yo, $3." } ‘ ~ MACMILLAN & CO., 22 Bond Street, NEW YORK. ae ay, ee ya eae : ite me : in Eignteen Monthly Parts. Price, 40 cents each. Subscription for the whole work, paid in advance, $6, HE APPLICATIONS OF PHYSICAL FORCES. i BY : Bee's: AMEDEE GUILLEMIN. TRANSLATED FROM THE FRENCH BY Be MES. NORMAN LOCKYER, if anv Epirep, wiTH ADDITIONS AND NoTEs, BY J. NORMAN LOCKYER. ai With Four Coloured Plates and nearly Five Hundred Engravings, The issue of Guillemin's ‘‘ Forces of Nature"’ in monthl pare being now complete, the publishers propose to follow it up by a imilar issue of the companion work on ‘‘ The Applications oft hysical Forces." ‘This important and valuable treatise, which gives in yopular form explanations of the various modes in which the ‘t Forces with which readers of the ge volume are now familiar, may ye applied to human use, will now therefore be brought for the first time within the reach of a public to whom in its original and costly orm it was inaccessible. The mere mention of a few of the subjects dealt with in the work is enough to show its eminent fitness to mpply the ever-increasing thirst for scientific information: e.g. The Pendulum, the Balance, Hydraulic Press, Artesian Wells, Pumps, m+ Engines, Air Pumps and Guns, Balloons, the Stethoscope, Bells, Drums, Stringed Instruments, Wind Instruments, the Organ, Mirrors, Ltghthouses, the Microscope, the Telescope, the Stereoscope, Photography, Heliography, Heating Apparatus, the Steam Engine, Steam Vavigation, the Locomotive, the Compass, Lightning Conductors, Electric Telegraphy, and other applications of A/ectricity. q ; e. MACMILLAN & CO, 22 Bonn Street, NEW YORK. ' a \ NOVY Set EA Dy. BRITISH BARROWS: A RECORD OF THE EXAMINATION OF 2 en SEPULCHRAL MOUNDS IN VARIOUS PARTS OF ENGLAND. BY WILLIAM GRAEEN WwW BDL. tafe’ > TOGETHER WITH DESCRIPTION OF FIGURES OF SKULLS, GENERAL REMARKS ON PREHISTORIC CRANIA, AND AN APPENDIX, By GEORGE ROLLESTON, M.D., F.R.S., Linacre Professor of Anatomy and Physiology and Fellow of Merton College, Oxford. With Illustrations. 8vo. $9. 4 “‘ The prehistoric inhabitants of Europe are now exciting an interest in the minds of thoughtful men which, twenty years ago, would ave seemed impossible, and which can no ddngee be ignored by the historian. The story of Man in Great Britain is rapidly being nfolded, ponpely by the careful and scientific exploration of the various remains which are eloquent of the condition of things that assed away before the art of letters was known in the North; and among those who have been instrumental in bringing this about, “5 {r. Greenwell will ever deserve a foremost place. . . . In conclusion, it remains merely to say that this valuable work fills a void in me. e archzeological record of Great Britain, and that it contains a larger mass of accurately-observed facts than any book hitherto pub- t hed relating to the Bronze age in this country.""—W. BoyD DAWkKINs. * ; MACMILLAN & O,..:22 Bonn Street. NEW VORK ~ SCIENTIFIC. WORKS PUBLISHED BY MACMILLAN & CO, BACON’S NOVUM ORGANUM. duction, Notes, etc. Edited with Intro- By THomas Fow er, M.A., Pro- fessor of Logic in the University of Oxford. 8vo, $3.75+ A HAND-BOOK of DESCRIPTIVE ASTRONOMY. By Georce F. Cuamsers, F.R.A.S. Third edition, re- vised throughout and much enlarged. 8vo, $7, “I have to acknowledge'a great‘amount of very useful advice and assist- ance from observers in all parts of the world, most of them total stra angers to me, many of them being persons I had never heard of until the receipt of theirletters. Indeed, the letters that I have received , especially from the United States of America, have been a very eratitgiae eepuragement to me to persevere in improving this work in every possible way.” —L£xtract Srom Preface. COAL: ITS HISTORY AND USES. By Professors GREEN, MIALL, THorpE, R#cKER, and MARSHALL, of the Yorkshire College. Edited by Prof. THorpr. 8vo, $4. Contents :—The Geology of Coal—Coal Plants—Animals of the Coal Measures—The Chemistry of Coal—Coal as a Source of Wealth and of Power—The Coal Question. ELEMENTS OF COMPARATIVE ANATOMY. By Cart Gecensaur, Professor of Anatomy, and Di- rector of the Anatomical Institute at Heidelberg. Translated by F. Jerrrey Bet, B,A. The Translation revised, and a Preface written by E. Ray LANKESTER, M.A., F.R.S., Professor of Zoology and Comparative Anatomy in University College, London. 8vo, $5.50. A TEXT-BOOK OF PHYSIOLOGY. By MIcHAEL Foster, M.A., M.D., F.R.S., Prelector in Physiology, and Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge. edition, 8vo, $5. Second revised and enlarged. With illustrations. THE PRINCIPLES OF SCIENCE. A Treatise on Logic and Scientific Method. By W. STANLEY JEvons, LL.D., M.A. Second edition, revised. 12mo, $3.50. LECTURES ON SOME RECENT ADVANCES IN PHYSICAL SCIENCE. Witha Special Lecture on Force. By P. G. Tart, M.A., Professor of Natural ‘PREHISTORIC MAN. Researches into the Origin oi Philoso h yin the University of Edinburgh. Second matics of Machinery—Steam-Engine—Radiation—Microscopes—Electro _ bi pay , y = meters—A pparatus Relating to Vegetable Panicle Sts rdition sevised r2mo, $2.50. ments. ——<$<$—— ee MACMILLAN & CO., 22 Bond Street, NEW YORK. ‘if THE FORCES OF NATURE, A Popular. ‘henee tion to the Study of Physical Phenomena. By GuILLEMIN. Translated from the French by NorMAn Lockyer, and edited, with additio Notes, by J. NorMAN Lockyer, F.R.S, With Plate and nearly 500 Engravings, Royal &vo, $8. | Se 4 THE APPLICATIONS OF PHYSICAL FORC a By Amép£e GuILLemin. Translated from the Frenck by Mrs. Norman Lockyer, and edited, with, additions and Notes, by J. Norman Lockyer, F.R.S, a Plates and nearly 500 Engravings. Royal 8vo, oath CONTRIBUTIONS TO SOLAR PHYSICS. + Popular Account of Inquiries into the Physical Consti« tution of the Sun, with special references to ‘Teceng Spectroscopic Researches; Communicationsto the Royal: Society of London, and the French Academy of Scier with Notes. By J. Norman Lockyer, F.R.S, bats illustrations. 8yvo, $7.50. STAR-GAZING: PAST AND PRESENT. ae Il Norman Lockyer, F.R.S. Expanded from Shorthang Notes of a Course of Royal Institution Lectures, with. +o. the assistance of G. M. SEABROKE, F.R.A.S, 8vo, $e. CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE THEORY OF NAT- URAL SELECTION. A Series of Essays. B ALFRED RussEL WALLACE, author of the “ Malay chipelago,” etc, etc. r2mo, $2. ass ON THE GENESIS OF SPECIES. By H.Sr. Grorcr Mivarr, F.R.S. With numerous illustrations. — sod cond edition. 12mo, $2. coer Civilization in the Old and the New World. By DanieEL Wi1son, LL.D., F.R.S.E., Professor of History and English Literature in University College, oo Third edition, revised and enlarged. 2 vols. 8yvo, SCIENCE LECTURES AT SOUTH KENSING- . TON. Volumel. 12mo, $1.75. Ay eee Contents :— Photography—Light and Colors—Fluotescenoe Kine | A WEEKLY ILLUSTRATED JOURNAL OF SCIENCE . “To the solid ground Of Nature trusts the mind which oe for aye.” —WoORDSWORTH MACMILLAN & CO., Publishers, 22 Bond St., NEW YORK. | : PRIC CENTS J : THURSDAY, MARCH 11, 1880. | AyuaL SUBSCRIPTION: $4 One volume, 8vo, 225 pp., 34 illustrations, and one folding map, cloth, $2.50. SEWERS AND DRAINS POPULOUS DISTRICTS, WITH RULES AND FORMULA: FOR' THE DETERMINATION OF THEIR | ae DIMENSIONS UNDER ALL CIRCUMSTANCES. BY ee _ JULIUS W. ADAMS, CE. CONTENTS. Introduction.—General Considerations.—The Physical Outlines of the District and the Depth of the rainage.—Of the Rainfall and the Proportion to be Provided for in the Sewers.—Water Supply.—The Final sposal of the Sewage.—Proportion of Sewage Plans.—Materials Used in the Construction of Sewers and Their Application.—Foundations.—Appendages to Sewers.—Street’ Basins —Tide Valves and Tank Sewers. torm or Overflow Sewers.—Intercepting Sewers,—Ventilation.—House Drainage.—Main Drainage of ndon; from a paper to the Institution of Civil Engineers, by the Constructing Engineer, Sir Joseph lgette.—Specifications.—Description of Clays Used by the Akron Pipe Company.—Description of Clays Jsed, and the Method Pursued in the Manufacture of Sewer Pipe in the Neighborhood of N. Y. by G. W. der & Co.—Tables; Value of “g” by Formula, p. 54 Francis’ Hydraulic Experiments for the Specified titudes and Heights above the Sea; Loss of Head by Friction of Pipe per 1ooo feet on the under-mentioned izes, and for the given Velocities, by Darcy’s Formula for bo pi 57. =~. et a ae ~% ie 5 may her eo ¥ * Fey? . %y *? “i « z a a t pias Si gee NOSTRAN D, Publisher, 23 Murray and 27 Warren Streets, NEW YORK. * Copies sent by mail on receipt of price. sm 3 " eee i Ponisi ay o = Bee 8 MACMILLAN | & CO ea 4 : tthe 5 sexe 9 said A Hand-book of Double Stars, Ao pity wi a Catalogue of Twelve Hundred Double Stars and Extensive Lists of Seances With th additional "ing the Measures up to 1879. For the use of amateurs. By Edw. Crossley, F.R.A.S., Jase! ledhi and James M. Wilson, M.A., F.R.A.S. bs Tilustrations. 8vo, $6. Studies on Fermentation. is: Sa : The Diseases of Beer. Their Causes and the Means of Preventing them. By L. Pasteur. A Translat io _Index, and original Illustrations. By Frank Faulkner and D, Constable Robb, B.A. _Bvo, $6. Blowpipe Analysis. By J. Landauer. Authorized English Edition, by James Taylor and William E. Kay, 16mo, $1.50. s Units and Physical Constants. With numerous Examples, 2.25. eS fee necosraphin. _A History of the Principal Drugs of Vegetable Origin met with in Great Britain and British Tadia, Fliickiger and Daniel Hanbury, F.R.S. Second Edition. 8vo, half bound, $5. i The Metaphysics of the School. By Thomas Harper, S.J. 8vo, $s. i mi The Electrical Researches of the bari Henry Cavendish, PRS. Ea a5 "i Written between 1771 and 1781. Edited from the original Ms. by J. “Clark Maxwell, F.R.S. 8vo, 8402 pps “ “ Hydrodynamics : : Ni . A Treatise on the Mathematical Theory of the Motion of Fluids. By Horace Lamb, M.A., Professor ot Mathe Ap the University of Adelaide. 8vo, $3. YS . 7. y ~ i : A? oP A ate MACMILLAN & CO., 22 Bond Street, NEW YORK. | Sola Eignteen Monthly Parts. Price, 40 cen its each. Subscription for the whole work, paid in advance, $6, oe, THE APPLICATIONS OF PHYSICAL FORCES, AMEDEE G@UILLEMIN. | Ne a MES. NORMAN LOCKYER, and EpiTEep, wiTH ADDITIONS AND NorTEs, By J. NORMAN LOCKYER. a: With Four Coloured Plates and nearly Five Hundred Engravings. plete, the publishers propose to follow it up by a The issue of Guillemin’s ‘‘ Forces of Nature" in monthly parts being now com <7 « ilar issue of the companion work on ‘' The Applications of Physical Forces."’ This important and valuable treatise, which gives in _ ne 4 eae form explanations of the various modes in which the “ Forces” with which readers of the aime volume are now familiar, may ene applied to human use, will now therefore be brought for the first time within the reach of a public to whom in its original and costly ion RK form it was inaccessible. The mere mention of a few of the subjects dealt with in the work is enough to show its eminent fitness to ee, Ss, Air Pumps and Guns, Balloons, the Stethoscope, Bells, Drums, Stringed Instruments, Wind Instruments, the Organ, Mirrors, thouses, the Microscope, the Telescope, the Stereoscope, Photography, Heliography, Heating Apparatus, the Sieam Engine, Steam ; | Navigation, the Locomotive, the Compass, Lightning Conductors, Electric Telegraphy, and other applications of Avectricity. ty iY We, 4s MACMILLAN & CO, 22 Bonn Street, NEW YORK. tot mee ly the ever-increasing thirst for scientific information : e.g. The Pendulum, the Balance, Hydraulic Press, Artesian Wells, Pumps, o ~ = : Now PE} AID 4 BRITISH BARROWS: A RECORD OF THE EXAMINATION OF _— +.~—s« SEPULCHRAL Mounps 4 BY WILLIAM GRHENWHEHLL.. Nt TOGETHER WITH DESCRIPTION OF FIGURES OF SKULLS, GENERAL REMARKS ON PREHISTORIC : CRANIA, AND AN APPENDIX, By GEORGE ROLLESTON, M.D., F.R.S., re Linacre Professor of Anatomy and Physiology and Fellow of Merton College, Oxford. oh. With Illustrations, S8vo. $9. * The prehistoric inhabitants of Europe are now exciting an interest in the minds of thoughtful men which, twenty years ago, would baye seemed impossible, and which can no a be ignored by the historian. The story of Man in Great Britain ‘is rapidly being unfokled, principally by the careful and scientific exploration of the various remains which are eloquent of the condition of things that assed away before the art of letters was known in the North; and among those who have been instrumental in bringing this about, Dy Mir. Greenwell will ever deserve a foremost place. . . . In conclusion, it remains merely to say that this valuable work fills a void in the archzeological record of Great Britain, and that it contains a larger mass of accurately-observed facts than any book hitherto pub- lished relating to the Bronze age in this country.’"—W. BoypD DAWKINS. MACMILLAN & CO. 22 Bono Street. NEW VORK. “ng 4 ip ae: ea SCIENTIFIC ~WORKS PUBLISHED BY MACMILLAN & CO. a BACON S NOVUM ORGANUM. Edited with Intro- By Tomas Fow ter, M,A., Pro- fessor of Logic in the University of Oxford. 8vo, $3.75. duction, Notes, etc. A HAND-BOOK of DESCRIPTIVE ASTRONOMY. By GeorGE F. Cuampers, F.R.A.S. Third edition, re- vised throughout and much enlarged. 8vo, $7, “T have to acknowledge a great‘amount of very useful advice and assist- ance from observers in all parts of the world, most of them total strangers to me, many of them being persons I had never heard of until the receipt of theirletters. Indeed, the letters that I have received, especially from the United States of America, have been a very gratifying encouragement to me to persevere in improving this work in every possible way.”—Z£.xtract from Preface. COAL: ITS HISTORY AND USES. By Professors GREEN, MIALL, THorRpPE, RiicKER, and MARSHALL, of the Yorkshire College. Edited by Prof. THorPE. 8vo, $4. Contents :—TLhe Geology of Coal—Coal Plants—Animals of the Coal Measures—The Chemistry of Coal—Coal as a Source of Wealth and of Power—The Coal Question. ELEMENTS OF COMPARATIVE ANATOMY. | By Cart GEGENBAUR, Professor of Anatomy, and Di- rector of the Anatomical Institute at Heidelberg. Translated by F. JeErFRey Bert, B.A. The Translation revised, and a Preface written by E. RAY LANKESTER, M.A., F.R.S., Professor of Zoology and Comparative Anatomy in University College, London. 8vo, $5.50. A TEXT-BOOK OF PHYSIOLOGY. By MicHar. Foster, M.A., M.D., F.R.S., Prelector in Physiology, and Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge. Second edition, revised and enlarged. With illustrations. 8vo, $5. THE PRINCIPLES OF SCIENCE. Logic and Scientific Method. By W. SranLry JEvons, LL.D., M.A. Second edition, revised. A Treatise on LECTURES ON SOME RECENT ADVANCES IN PHYSICAL SCIENCE. Witha Special Lecture By P. G. Tart, M.A., Professor of Natural Philosophy in the University of Edinburgh. edition sevised on Force. Second I2mo, $2.50. 4 & CO., MACMILLAN r2mo, $3.50. | NA {TURE oe : iso 22 Bond Street, NEW YORK. ~~ THE FORCES OF NATURE. A Popular Intreaelh tion to the Study of Physical Phenomena. By Amépge GUILLEMIN. Translated from the French by Mrs, NorMAn Lockyer, and edited, with additions and Notes, by J. Norman Lockyer, F.R.S, With Plates” Royal 8vo, $8. ; THE APPLICATIONS OF PHYSICAL FORCES, By Amfép£e GuILLemIn. Translated from the French by Mrs. Norman Lockyer, and edited, with additions and Notes, by J. Norman Lockyer, F.R.S., with Plates and nearly 500 Engravings. Royal 8vo, $3. and nearly 500 Engravings, CONTRIBUTIONS TO SOLAR PHYSICS. | Popular Account of Inquiries into the Physical Consti-- tution of the Sun, with special references to Tecent Spectroscopic Researches; Communicationsto the Royal Society of London, and the French Academy of Sciences. with Notes. By J. Norman Lockyer, F.R.S. With illustrations. 8vo, $7.50. STAR-GAZING: PAST AND PRESENT. By iT Norman Lockyer, F.R.S. Expanded from Shorthand Notes of a Course of Royal Institution Lectures, with the assistance of G. M. SEABROKE, F.R.A.S. 8vo, $6. CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE THEORY OF NAT- URAL SELECTION. A Series of Essays, By ALFRED RusseL WALLACE, author of the “ Malay Ar- : chipelago," etc , etc. 12mo, $2. 3 ON THE GENESIS OF SPECIES. By H.Sr. Grorcr > Mivart, F.R.S. With numerous illustrations. Se. yo 4 cond edition. r2mo, $2. PREHISTORIC MAN. Researches into the Origin of Civilization in the Old and the New World. By DanieL Witson, LL.D., F.R.S.E., Professor of History and English Literature in University College, Toronto, Third edition, revised and enlarged. 2 vols.. 8vo, $3, | SCIENCE LECTURES AT SOUTH KENSING- TON. Volumel. 12mo, $1.75. Contants ;— Photography—Light and Colon Flnosseeice Kiser, | matics of Machinery—Steam-Engine—Radiation—Microscopes—Electro meters—Apparatus Relating to Vegetable salar ig oe Meee a ments, ] 4 of — A WEEKLY ILLUSTRATED JOURNAL OF SCIENCE “To the solid ground Of Nature trusts the mind which builds for aye.” —WoORDSWORTH MACMILLAN & CO., Publishers, 22 Bond st., NEW YORK, PRICE 15 CENTS mel THURSDAY, MARCH 18, 1880. { guy iRtE 15 CENTS SOQ) ‘S/2POY Chemical Apparatus Chemicals. Our Priced and Illustrated Catalogue will be published in four parts, any or all of which will be mailed on application. art 1st—Mathematical Instruments, 160 pages ; contains list and prices of Drawing Implements, Drawing Materials, Pocket Compasses, Surveying Compasses, Engineers’ Transits and Levels, Surveying Chains, Tape Meas- ures, Pocket Rules, and Books relating to Drawing, Engineering, and Mechanics. art 2d—Optical Instruments, 144 pages; contains list and prices of Spectacles, Eye-glasses, Lenses, Spy-glasses, . Telescopes, Opera and Field Glasses, Graphoscopes, Stereoscopes, Camera-Obscuras, Camera-Lucidas, Microscopes, Microscopic Preparations, and Books on Optics and Microscopy, art 3d—Magic Lanterns and Slides, 112 pages; contains list and prices of Magic Lanterns for Toys, for Public and Private Exhibitions, Sciopticons, Stereopticons, Scientific Lanterns, and accessory apparatus to be used with them ; Magic Lantern Slides, both colored and uncolored. art 4th—Physical Instruments, 188 pages ; contains list and prices of Instruments to illustrate Lectures in every department of Physics and Chemical Science, Air Pumps, Electric Machines, Galvanic Batteries, Barome- ters, Thermometers, Rain Gauges, Globes, Spectroscopes, Auzoux’s Anatomical Models, and Books relat ing to Scientific Subjects, JAMES W, QUEEN & C0., Mathematical, Optical, and Philosophical Instrument Makers, 924 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia. > | NATURE | [March 18, 188 NEW SCIENTIFIC BOOKS PUBLISHED BY MACMILLAN & CO. > - The Mechanical Theory of Heat. By R. Clausius. Translated by Walter R. Browne, M.A,, late Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge. 12mo, $2.60. | ‘ A Hand-book of Double Stars, * With a Catalogue of Twelve Hundred Double Stars and Extensive Lists of Measures. With additional Notes bring- ing the Measures up to 1879. For the use of amateurs. By Edw. Crossley, ¥.R.A.S., Joseph Gledhill, F.R.A.S., and James M. Wilson, M.A., F.R.A.S, With Illustrations. 8vo, $6. ' Studies on Fermentation. The Diseases of Beer. Their Causes and the Means of Preventing them. By L. Pasteur. A ‘Translation, with Notes, Index, and original Illustrations. By Frank Faulkner and D. Constable Robb, B.A. 8vo, $6. Blowpipe Analysis. By J. Landauer. Authorized English Edition, by James Taylor and William E. Kay. 16mo, $1.50. Units and Physical Constants. By J. D. Everett, M.A., D.C.L., F.R.S., etc., Professor of Natural Philosophy in Queen’s College, Belfast. 16mo' $1.10. An Introduction to the Theory of Electricity. With numerous Examples. By Linnezus Cumming, M.A. Second Edition, with Corrections and Additions. 12mo, $2.25. Pharmacographia. A History of the Principal Drugs of Vegetable Origin met with in Great Britain and British India. By Friedrich A. Fliickiger'and Daniel Hanbury, F.R.S. Second Edition. 8vo, half bound, $5. i : 4 The Metaphysics of the School. By Thomas Harper, S.J. 8vo, $s. The Electrical Researches of the Hon. Henry Cavendish, F.R.S, Written between 1771 and 1781. Edited from the original ms. by J. Clark Maxwell, F.R.S. 8vo, $5. Hydrodynamics : A Treatise on the Mathematical Theory of the Motion of Fluids. By Horace Lamb, M.A., Professor ot Mathematics in the University of Adelaide. 8vo, $3. eee MACMILLAN & CO., 22 Bond Street, NEW YORK. Gs March 18, 1880.1 NATURE - In Eighteen Monthly Parts. Price, 40 cents each. Subscription for the whole work, paid in advance, $6, THE APPLICATIONS OF PHYSICAL FORCES. BY AMEDEE GUILLEMIN. ‘TRANSLATED FROM THE FRENCH BY MES. NORMAN LOCKYER, AND EDITED, WITH ADDITIONS AND NorTEs, BY J. NORMAN LOCKYER. With Four Coloured Plates and nearly Five Hundred Engravings. The issue of Guillemin’s ‘‘ Forces of Nature’ in monthly parts being now complete, the publishers propose to follow it up by a similar issue of the companion work on '' The Applications on hysical Forces."" This important and valuable treatise, which gives in pular form explanations of the various modes in which the ‘‘ Forces” with which readers of the previous volume ase now familiar, may applied to human use, will now therefore be brought for the first time within the reach of a public to whom in its original and costly form it was inaccessible. The mere mention of a few of the subjects dealt with in the work is enough to show its eminent fitness to ely. the ever-increasing thirst for scientific information: e.g. The Pendulum, the Balance, Hydraulic Press, Artesian Wells, Pumps, Fi > Engines, Air Pumps and Guns, Balloons, the Stethoscope, Bells, Drums, Stringed Instruments, Wind Instruments, the Organ, Mirrors, tghthouses, the Microscope, the Telescope, the Stereoscope, Photography, Heliography, Heating Apparatus, the Steam Engine, Steam lavigation, the Locomotive, the Compass, Lightning Conductors, Electric Telegraphy, and other applications of Agectricity. MACMILLAN & CO. 22 Bonn Street, NEW YORK. Now Pir A ID Y- BRITISH BARROWS: A RECORD OF THE EXAMINATION OF ‘ . SEPULCHRAL MOUNDS IN VARIOUS PARTS OF ENGLAND. BY Wier AM GREEN WwW eoL. TOGETHER WITH DESCRIPTION OF FIGURES OF SKULLS, GENERAL REMARKS ON PREHISTORIC CRANIA, AND AN APPENDIX, By GEORGE ROLLESTON, M.D., F.R.S., Limacre Professor of Anatomy and Physiology and Fellow of Merton College, Oxford With Illustrations. S8vo. $9. - “ The prehistoric inhabitants of Europe are now exciting an interest in the minds of thoughtful men which, twenty years ago, would have seemed impossible, and which can no longer be ignored by the historian. The story of Man in Great Britain is rapidly being unfolded, principally by the careful and eeimntific exploration of the various remains which are eloquent of the condition of things that assed away eka the art of letters was known in the North; and among those who have been instrumental in bringing this about, Mr. Greenwell will ever deserve a foremost place. : In conclusion, it remains merely to say that this valuable work fills a void in the archzeological record of Great Britain, and that it contains a larger mass of accurately-observed facts than any book hitherto pub- lished relating to the Bronze age in this country.""—W. BoyD DAWKINS. MACMILLAN & CO.. 22 Bonp Strezrt. NEW VORK. 4 NATURE SCIENTIFIC WORKS PUBLISHED BY MACMILLAN & CO. | Warch 18, 18 BACON’S NOVUM ORGANUM. Edited with Intro- duction, Notes, etc. By THomas Fow er, M.A., Pro- fessor of Logic in the University of Oxford. 8vo, $3.75. A HAND-BOOK of DESCRIPTIVE ASTRONOMY. By GeorcE F. CHAmsers, F.R.A.S. Third edition, re- vised throughout and much enlarged. 8vo, $7. “I have to acknowledge’a greatjamount of very useful advice and assist- ance from observers in all parts of the world, most of them total strangers to me, many of them being persons I had never heard of until the receipt of theirletters, Indeed, the letters that I have received, especially from the United States of America, have been a very gratifying encouragement to me to persevere in improving this work in every possible way.”—Z-rtract Srom Preface. ‘ COAL: ITS HISTORY AND USES. By Professors GREEN, MIALL, THORPE, RUCKER, and MARSHALL, of the Yorkshire Colgege. Edited by Prof. THorrg, 8vo, $4. Contents :—The Geology of Coal—Coal Plants—Animals of the Coal Measures—The Chemistry of Coal—Coal as a Source of Wealth and of Power—The Coal Question. ELEMENTS OF COMPARATIVE ANATOMY. By Car_ GEGENBAUR, Professor of Anatomy, and Di- rector of the Anatomical Institute at Heidelberg. | Translated by F. Jerrrey Brit, B.A. The Translation revised, and a Preface written by E. Ray LANKESTER, M.A., F.R.S., Professor of Zoology and Comparative Anatomy in University College, London, 8vo, $5.50. A TEXT-BOOK OF PHYSIOLOGY. By MicHae. Foster, M.A., M.D., F.R.S.. Prelector in Physiology, and Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge. Second edition, revised and enlarged. With illustrations. 8vo, $5. THE PRINCIPLES OF SCIENCE, A Treatise on | Logic and Scientific Method. By W. STANLEY JEvons, | LL.D., M.A. Second edition, revised. 12mo, $3.50. LECTURES ON SOME RECENT ADVANCES IN PHYSICAL SCIENCE. Witha Special Lecture By P. G. Tart, M.A., Professor of Natural Philosophy in the University of Edinburgh. Second dition revised on Force. I2mo, $2.50. THE FORCES OF NATURE, A Popular Introduc. tion to the Study of Physical Phenomena. By AmEpfa Guittemin. Translated from the French by Mrs, Norman Lockyer, and edited, with additions and. Notes, by J. Norman Lockyer, F.R.S, With Plates { Royal &vo, $8. | THE APPLICATIONS OF PHYSICAL FORCES. ) By Amfép£z GuILtemin. Translated from the French by Mrs. Norman Lockyer, and edited, with additions and Notes, by J. Norman Lockyer, F.R.S., with Royal 8vo, $8, { CONTRIBUTIONS TO SOLAR PHYSICS. A Popular Account of Inquiries into the Physical Consti-_ tution of the Sun, with special references to recent Spectroscopic Researches; Communications to the Royal q Society of London, and the French Academy of Sciences. with Notes. By J. NorMAN Lockyer, F.R.S. With j illustrations. 8vo, $7.50. STAR-GAZING: PAST AND PRESENT. By J Norman Lockyer, F.R.S. Expanded from Shorthand Notes of a Course of Royal Institution Lectures, with the assistance of G. M. SEABROKE, F.R.A.S. 8vo, $6. CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE THEORY OF ed URAL SELECTION. A Series of Essays. , ALFRED RussEL WALLACE, author of the “ Malay . chipelago,” 12zmo, $2. ON THE GENESIS OF SPECIES. By H. Sr. Georcr P Mivart, F.R.S. With numerous illustrations. Se- cond edition. and nearly 500 Engravings, Plates and nearly 500 Engravings. etc, etc. I2mo, $2. PREHISTORIC MAN. Researches into the Origin o Civilization in the Old and the New World. By DanieL Witson, LL.D., F.R.S.E., Professor of History — and English Literature in University College, Toronfo, | y Third edition, revised and enlarged. 2 vols.. 8vo, $8. — SCIENCE LECTURES AT SOUTH KENSING- TON. Volumel. 1r2mo, $1.75. / Contents : — Photography—Light and Colors—Fluorescence—Kine- matics of Machinery—Steam-Engine—Radiation—Microscopes—Electro meters—Apparatus Relating to Vegetable Physiology—Electrical Measure ments. MACMILLAN & CO., 22 Bond Street, NEW YORK. i A WEEKLY ILLUSTRATED JOURNAL OF SCIENCE ' “To the solid ground - Of Nature trusts the mind which builds for aye.” —WORDSWORTH ~ MACMILLAN & CO., Publishers, 22 Bond St., NEW YORK, jo. A THURSDAY, MARCH 25, 188. } Pas ie ere 1 Now Reapy. LECTURES AND ESSAYS. BY THE LATE WILLIAM KINGDON CLIFFORD, F.R:S., Late Professor of Applied Mathematics and Mechanics in University College, London, and some time Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge. Edited by LESLIE STEPHEN and FREDERICK POLLOCK, with an Introduction by F, POLLOCK. Two volumes, 8vo, $7.50. . “In Ahe region of pure mathematics, he was one of the first five or six original thinkers in Europe. As an expounder to unscientific people of the foundations of science and philosophy, he was almost without a rival. It is in this latter char- acter that he is seen in the volumes that are now before us—a collection of such of his papers and lectures as were — addressed to non-technical audiences.”—London Saturday Review. . SEEING AND THINKING. BY THE LATE WILLIAM KINGDON: CLIFFORD, ERS. Forming the New Volume of the NATURE SERIES or Screntiric Works, 12mo, $1. CONTENTS.—The Eye and the Brain—The Eye and Seeing—The Brain and Thinking—O! By J; DB: EVERETT, M-A.,.D.C-L., ERS, etc., Professor of Natural Philosophy in Queen’s College, Belfast. 16m0, $1.10. MACMILLAN & CO., 22 Bonp STREET, NEW YORK. 2 3 NATURE [March 25, 18 NEW SCIENTIFIC BOOKS PUBLISHED BY MACMILLAN & CO. —— The Mechanical Theory of Heat. By R. Clausius. Translated by Walter R. Browne, M.A., late Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge. 12mo, $2. A Hand-book of Double Stars, With a Catalogue of Twelve Hundred Double Stars and Extensive Lists of Measures. With additional Notes bring: ing the Measures up to 1879. For the use of amateurs. By Edw. Crossley, F.R.A.S., Joseph Gledhill, F.R.A.S., and James M. Wilson, M.A., F.R.A.S, With Illustrations. 8vo, $6. Studies on Fermentation. aa The Diseases of Beer. Their Causes and the Means of Preventing them. By L. Pasteur. A Translation, with Notes, , mde, aod original Illustrations, By Frank Faulkner and D. Constable Robb, B.A. 8vo, $6. Blowpipe Analysis. By J. Landauer. Authorized English Edition, by James Taylor and William E. Kay. 16mo, $1.50. Units and Physical Constants, By J. D, Everett, M.A., D.C.L., F.R.S., etc., Professor of Natural Philosophy:in Queen’s College, Belfast. 16mo $r.10,. An Introduction to the Theory of Electricity. With numerous Examples. By Linnzus Cumming. M.A. Second Edition, with Corrections and Additions. 12mo, $2.25. Pharmacographia, A History of the Principal Drugs of Vegetable Origin met with in Great Britain and British India. By Friedrich A. Fliickiger and Daniel Hanbury, F.R.S. Second Edition. 8vo, half bound, $5. The Metaphysics of the School, By Thomas Harper, S.J. 8vo, $5. The Electrical Researches of the Hon, Henry Cavendish, F.R.S, Written between 1771 and 1781. Edited from the original’ms. by J. Clark Maxwell, F.R.S. 8vo, $5. HMydrodynamices: A Treatise on the Mathematical Theory of the Motion of Fluids. By Horace Lamb, M.A., Professor ot Mathematics in the University of Adelaide, 8vo, $3. | | / / | | . MACMILLAN & CO., 22 Bond Street, NEW YORK. 4 : March 25, 1880.) NATURE 3 In Eighteen Monthly Parts. Price, 40 cents each. Subscription for the whole work, paid in advance, $6, THE APPLICATIONS OF PHYSICAL FORCES. BY AMEDEE GUILLEMIN. TRANSLATED FROM THE FRENCH BY MES. NORMAN LOCEYESER, anpD Eprrep, WITH ADDITIONS AND NorTEs, BY | J. NORMAN LOCKYER. With Four Coloured Plates and nearly Five Hundred Engravings. The issue of Guillemin's ‘' Forces of Nature" in pothly, Bch being now complete, the publishers propose to follow it up'by a similar issue of the companion work on ‘ The Applications of Physical Forces." This important and valuable treatise, which gives in phat form explanations of the various modes in which the “‘ Forces "’ with which readers of the previous volume are now familiar, may applied to human use, will now therefore be brought for the first time within the reach of a public to whom in its original and costly form it was inaccessible. The mere mention of a few of the subjects dealt with in the work is enough to show its eminent fitness to aoe, the ever-increasing thirst for scientific information: e.g. The Pendulum, the Balance, Hydraulic Press, Artesian Wells, Pumps, F< ~ Engines, Air Pumps and Guns, Balloons, the Stethoscope, Bells, Drums, Stringed Instruments, Wind Instruments, the Organ, Mirrors,
NATURE | March 25, 188 — WORKS THE FORCES OF NATURE. A Popular Introduc- tion to the Study of Physical Phenomena. By GuILLeMIN. Translated from the French by Mrs. NorMAN Lockyer, and edited, with additions and Notes, by J. Norman Lockyer, F.R.S. With Plates. and nearly 500 Engravings, Royal 8vo, $8. THE APPLICATIONS OF PHYSICAL FORCE By Amfép£e Guittemin. Translated from the French by Mrs. Norman Lockyer, and edited, with additions and Notes, by J. Norman Lockyer, F.R.S., with Plates and nearly. 500 Engravings. Royal 8vo, $8. CONTRIBUTIONS TO SOLAR PHYSICS. Popular Account of Inquiries into the Physical Consti- tution of the Sun, with special references to recent Spectroscopic Researches; Comm unications tothe Royal Society of London, and the French Academy of Sciences. with Notes. ‘By J. Norman Lockyer, F.R.S. With: illustrations. 8vo, $7.50. STAR-GAZING: PAST AND PRESENT. By J Norman Lockyer, F.R.S. Expanded from Shorthané Notes of a Course of Royal Institution Lectures, with ‘ the assistance of G. M. SEABROKE, F.R.A.S. 8vo, $6. CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE THEORY OF NAT- By. URAL SELECTION. ALFRED RUSSEL WALLACE, author of the “ Malay Ar- A Series of Essays. chipelago,” etc, etc. 12mo, $2. ON THE GENESIS OF SPECIES. By H.Sr.G . Mivarr, F.R.S. With numerous illustrations. cond edition. PREHISTORIC MAN. Researches into the Origin oi Civilization in the Old and the New World. DANIEL Witson, LL.D., F.R.S.E., Professor of History and English Literature in University College, Toronto, Third edition, revised and enlarged. 2 vols., 8vo, $8. SCIENCE LFC™URES AT SOUTH KENSING- TON. Veicame I, 12mo, $1.75. Conrents : — Photography—Light and Colors—Fluorescence—Kine- matics of Machinery—Steam-Engine—Radiation—Microscopes—Electro meters—Apparatus Relating to Vegetable Physiology—Electrical Measure ments. : MACMILLAN & CO., 22 Bond Street, NEW YORK. ‘Se- 4 I2mo, $2. ; B By ee A WEEKLY ILLUSTRATED JOURNAL OF SCIENCE “To the solid ground Of Nature trusts the mind which builds for aye.” —WORDSWORTH MACMILLAN & CO., Publishers, 22 Bond St., NEW YORK. PRICE 15 CENTS THURSDAY, APRIL 1, 1880. pare terete he HERBERT SPENCER'S ale Works on the Science of Society, The Study of Sociology. | Hl. Ceremonial Institutions. | (First part of Volume II. of “Principles of So- ; ciology.”) 12mo, cloth. Price, $1.25. The Principles of Sociology. _IV. Descriptive Sociology ;._ or, Grours of Sociological Facts. Six parts, in royal Vol. I. 12mo,cloth. Price, $2.00. ) folio. Price, $4.00 each. One vol., t2mo, cloth. Price, $1.50. “Of all our thinkers he is the one who, as it appears to me, has formed for himself the largest new scheme of a systematic philosophy in relation to some of the greatest questions of philosophy in their most recent forms, as set or reset by the last speculations and revelations jence, has already shot his thoughts the farthest.""—Prof. Davin Masson, in Recent British Philosophy. “His bold generalizations are always instructive, and some of them’ may in the end be established as the profoundest laws of the knowable rse.”’—Dr. James McCosh, in the /ntuitions of Mind. 7 » “ One who, whether for the extent of his positive knowledge, or for the profundity of his speculative insight, has already achieved a name ad to none in the whole range of English philosophy.”—Westminster Review. “The work, ‘ Descriptive Sociology,’ is a gigentic one; its value, when complete, will be immeasurable; and its actual influence on the y of sociology, and help to that study, greater p- ~ than any book yet published. It isa cyclopadia of social science, but a cyclopedia -d by the greatest of sociologists.”"—G. W. SMALLE.. ; For’sale_by all booksellers; or sent by mail, post-paid, on receipt of price. D. APPLETON & CO. Publishers, New York. Ir = 2 NATURE [Aprel 1, 1 NEW SCIENTIFIC BOOKS PUBLISHED BY MACMILLAN & CO. The Mechanical Theory of Heat. By R. Clausius. Translated by Walter R. Browne, M.A,, late Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge. 12mo, $ A Hand-book of Double Stars, / With a Catalogue of Twelve Hundred Double Stars and Extensive Lists of Measuies. Wits additional Notes br ing the Measures up to 1879. For the use of amateurs. By Edw. Crossley, ¥.%.A.S., Joseph Giedhi'|, FRA and James M. Wilson, M.A., F.R.A.S. With Illustrations, 8vo, $6. a 1 4 Studies on Fermentation. The Diseases of Beer. Their Causes and the Means of Preventing them. By L. Pasteur. A Translation, with N Index, and original Illustrations. By Frank Faulkner and D. Constable Robb, B.A. 8vo, $6. Blowpipe Analysis. By J. Landauer. Authorized English Edition, by James Taylor and William E. Kay. 16mo, $1.50. Units and Physical Constants, By J. D. Everett, M.A., D.C.L., F.R.S., etc., Professor of Natural Philosophy in Queen’s College, Belfast. '16mo $ y y An Introduction to the Theory of Electricity. With numerous Examples. By Linneus Cumming, M.A. Second Edition, with Corrections and Additions. 1 $2.25. Pharmacographia, A History of the Principal Drugs of Vegetable Origin met with in Great Britain'and British India. By Friedri Fliickiger and Daniel Hanbury, F.R.S. Second Edition. 8vo, half bound, $5. The Metaphysics of the School.. By Thomas Harper, S.J. 8vo, $5. ‘ 2 The Electrical Researches of the Hon. Henry Cavendish, F.R.S. Written between 1771 and 1781. Edited from the original ms. by J. Clark Maxwell, F.R.S. -8vo, $s. Hydrodynamics: A Treatise on the Mathematical Theory of the Motion of Fluids. By Horace Lamb, M.A., Professor ot Mai the University of Adelaide. 8vo, $3. MACMILLAN & CO., 22 Bond Street, NEW YORK. April 1, 1880.) NATURE 3 in Eighteen Monthly Parts. Price, 40 cents each. Subscription for the whole work, paid in advance, $6, THE APPLICATIONS OF PHYSICAL FORCES. BY AMEDEE GUILLEMIN. TRANSLATED FROM THE FRENCH BY MRS. NORMAN LOCKYER, AnD EDITED, WITH ADDITIONS AND Norss, BY J. NORMAN LOCKYER. With Four Coloured Plates and nearly Five Hundred Engravings. The issue of Guillemin's ‘' Forces of Nature" in monthl being now complete, the publishers propose to follow it up by a similar issue of the companion work on ‘‘ The Applications of, hysical Forces.'' This important and valuable treatise, which gives in pular form explanations of the various modes in which the ‘‘ Forces” with which readers of the previous volume are now familiar, may applied to human use, will now therefore be brought for the first time within the reach of a public to whom in its original and costly form it was inaccessible. The mere mention of a few of the subjects dealt with in the work is enough to show its eminent fitness to supply the ever-increasing thirst for scientific information: eg. The Pendulum, the Balance, Hydraulic Press, Artesian Wells, Pumps, Fe- Engines, Air Pumps and Guns, Balloons, the Stethoscope, Bells, Drums, Stringed Instruments, Wind Instruments, the Organ, Mirrors, Lighthouses, the Microscope, the Telescope, the Stereoscope, Photography, Heliography, Heating Apparatus, the Steam Engine, Steam Navigation, the Locomotive, the Compass, Lightning Conductors, Electric Telegraphy, and.other applications of Zlectricity. MACMILLAN & CO, 22 Bonp Street, NEW YORK. IO Weert A DY. BRITISH BARROWS: A RECORD OF THE EXAMINATION OF SEPULCHRAL MOUNDS IN VARIOUS PARTS OF ENGLAND. oe eA CRHEN WwW EL. TOGETHER WITH DESCRIPTION OF FIGURES OF SKULLS, GENERAL REMARKS ON PREHISTORIC CRANIA, AND AN APPENDIX, By GEORGE ROLLESTON, M.D., F.R.S..,. Limacre Professor of Anatomy and Physiology and Fellow of Merton College, Oxford. With Illustrations. 8vo. $9. “ The prehistoric inhabitants of Europe are now exciting an interest in the minds of thoughtful men which, twenty years ago, would have seemed impossible, and which can no ie be ignored by the historian. The story of Man in Great Britain is rapidly being unfolded, principally by the careful and scientific exploration of the various remains which are eloquent of the condition of things that ee away before the art of letters was known in the North; and among those who have been instrumental in bringing this about, r. Greenwell will ever deserve a foremost place. . . . In conclusion, it remains merely to say that this valuable work fills a void in the archzeological record of Great Britain, and that it contains a larger mass of accurately-observed facts than any book hitherto pub- lished relating to the Bronze age in this country,”"—W. Boyp DAWKINs. MACMILLAN & CO. 22 Bonn Srrartr. NEW VORK. NATURE [April 1, 18 SCIENTIFIC WORKS PUBLISHED BY MACMILLAN & CO. — — ’ ve BACON’S NOVUM ORGANUM. | Edited with Intro- duction, Notes, ete. By THomas Fow er, M.A., Pro- . fessor of Logic in the University of Oxford. 8vo, $3.75. A HAND-BOOK of DESCRIPTIVE ASTRONOMY: By GreorcE F. CHAMBERS, F.R,.A.S, Third edition, re- 8vo, $7. “I have to acknowledge a great,amount of very useful advice and assist- ance from observers in all parts of the world, most of them total strangers to me, many of them being persons I had never heard of until the receipt of theirletters. Indeed, the letters that I have received, especially from the United States of America, have been a very gratifying encouragement to me to persevere in improving this work in every possible way.” —Zxtract from Preface. vised throughout and much enlarged. COAL: ITS HISTORY AND USES. By Professors GREEN, MIALL, THorprE, RUcKEeR, and MARSHALL, of the Yorkshire College. Edited by Prof. THorrE. S8vo, $4. Contents :—The Geology of Coal—Coal Plants—Animals of the Coal Measures—The Chemistry of Coal—Coal as a Source of Wealth and of Power—The Coal Question. ELEMENTS OF COMPARATIVE ANATOMY. By CARL GEGENBAUR, Professor of Anatomy, and Di- rector of the Anatomical Institute at Heidelberg. Translated by F. JEFFREY BELL, B.A. The Translation revised, and a Preface written by E. Ray LANKESTER, M.A., F.R.S., Professor of Zoology and Comparative Anatomy in University College, London. 8vo, $5.50. A TEXT-BOOK OF PHYSIOLOGY. By MicHar. Foster, M.A., M.D., F.R.S., Prelector in Physiology, and Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge. Second edition, revised and enlarged. With illustrations. 8vo, $5. THE PRINCIPLES OF SCIENCE. A Treatise on Logic and Scientific Method. By W.SranLey JEvons, LL.D., M.A. Second edition, revised. 12mo, $3.50. LECTURES ON SOME RECENT ADVANCES IN PHYSICAL SCIENCE. Witha Special Lecture on Force. By P. G. Tait, M.A., Professor of Natural Philosophy in the University of Edinburgh. Second edition revised 12mo, $2.50, | THE FORCES OF NATURE, A Popular Introduc. t tion to the Study of Physical Phenomena. By AmEp&e GuitLemIn. Translated from the French by Mrs, NorMAN Lockyer, and edited, with additions and Notes, by J. Norman Lockyer, F.R.S. With Plates Royal 8vo, $8. THE APPLICATIONS OF PHYSICAL FORCES. . By AMEDEE GuILLEMIN. Translated from the French — by Mrs. Norman Lockyer, and edited, with additions and Notes, by J. Norman Lockyer, F.R.S., with Royal 8vo, $8, CONTRIBUTIONS TO SOLAR PHYSICS. A ; Popular Account of Inquiries into the Physical Consti- and nearly 500 Engravings, Plates and nearly 500 Engravings. tution of the Sun, with special references to recent Spectroscopic Researches; Communications to the Royal Society of London, and the French Academy of Sciences. By J. Norman Lockyer, F.R.S. With 8vo, $7.50. STAR-GAZING: PAST AND PRESENT. By Jf. Norman Lockyer, F.R.S. 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MACMILLAN & CO., 22 Bond Street, NEW YORK. P A WEEKLY ILLUSTRATED JOURNAL OF SCIENCE “To the solid ground Of Nature trusts the mind which builds for aye."—WORDSWORTH MACMILLAN & CO., Publishers, 22 Bond St., NEW YORK. x TRICTS. By Jutivs W. Apams, Chief Engineer to the Board of City Works, and Consulting Engineer to the Board of Health, Brooklyn. 8vo, cloth, illustrated, $2.50. EL: Its Combustion and Economy. Embracing portions of the well-known works of C. Wve Wittiams, “Combustion of Coal and the Prevention of Smoke,” and of T. T. Pripeaux’s work on the “Economy of Fuel,” with extensive additions on Recent Practice in the Combustion and Economy of Fuel, Coal, Coke, Wood, Peat, Pe- troleum, etc,, etc. By D. Kinnear Crark, C.E, 1 vol., 12mo, cloth, $r.50. E-MAKING MACHINES. The Theory of the Ac- tion of the Various Forms of Cold-Producing, or so-called Ice-Machines (Machines & Froid). Translated from the French of M. Lepoux. 18mo, boards, illustrated, 50 cents. 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By Professors GREEN, MIALL, THoRpE, RUCKER, and MARSHALL, of the Yorkshire College. Edited by Prof. THorPE. 8vo, $4. Contents :—The Geology of Coal—Coal Plants—Animals of the Coal Measures—The Chemistry of Coal—Coal as a Source of Wealth and of Power—The Coal Question. ELEMENTS OF COMPARATIVE ANATOMY. By Cart GEGENBAUR, Professor of Anatomy, and Di- rector of the Anatomical Institute at Heidelberg. Translated by F. Jerrrry Bett, B.A. The Translation revised, and a Preface written by E. RAY LANKESTER, M.A., F.R.S., Professor of Zoology and Comparative Anatomy in University College, London, 8vo, $5.50. A TEXT-BOOK OF PHYSIOLOGY. By MicHaeL Foster, M.A., M.D., F.R.S., Prelector in Physiology, and Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge. Second edition, With illustrations, 8vo, $5. THE PRINCIPLES OF SCIENCE. A Treatise on Logic and Scientific Method. By W. STANLEY JEvons, LL.D., M.A, revised and enlarged. Second edition, revised. 12mo, $3.50. 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Wi 8vo, $7.50. J ; STAR-GAZING: PAST AND PRESENT. By J) Norman Lockyer, F.R.S. Expanded from Shorthane ' Notes of a Course of Royal Institution Lectures, with the assistance of G. M. SEABROKE, F.R.A.S. 8yvo, $6. CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE THEORY OF NA7 URAL. SELECTION. A Series of Essays. By ALFRED RUSSEL WALLACE, author of the “ Malay Ar Plates and nearly 500 Engravings. illustrations. chipelago,” etc , etc. 12mo, $2. . ON THE GENESIS OF SPECIES. By H H. St. GEORGE Mivart, F.R.S. With numerous illustrations. S cond edition. 12mo, $2. PREHISTORIC MAN. Researches into the Origin oi Civilization in the Old and the New World. By DANIEL Witson, LL.D., F.R.S.E., Professor of History and English Literature in University College, Toronto Third edition, revised and enlarged. 2 vols., 8vo, $8. SCIENCE LECTURES AT SOUTH KENSING- TON. VolumelI. r2mo, $1.75. Contents :— Photography—Light and Colors—Fluorescence—Kine- matics of Machinery—Steam-Engine—Radiation—Microscopes—Blectro meters—A pparatus Relating to Vegetable Physiology—Electrical Measure ments. A WEEKLY ILLUSTRAT —_ ED JOURNAL OF SCIENCE “To the solid ground Of Nature trusts the mind which builds for aye.” —WorpswortH MACMILLAN & CO., Publishers, 22 Bond St., NEW YORE. OE. 21 No. 25 { : THURSDAY, APRIL 22, 1880. PRICE 15 CENTS ANNUAL SUBSCRIPTION $6 NEW SCIENTIFIC WORKS PUBLISHED BY : MACMILLAN & CoO. ARLY MAN IN BRITAIN, AND HIS PLACE | SOME THOUGHTS CONCERNING EDUCA- IN THE TERTIARY PERIOD. By W. Boyp Dawkins, M.A., F.R.S., F.G.S., F.S.A., Curator of the Manchester Museum, and Professor of Geology and Paleontology in Owens College, Man- chester. Illustrated by woodcuts. 8vo, $6.50. LN INTRODUCTION TO THE PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION. 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With Four Coloured Plates and nearly Five Hundred Engravings. 4% ~ Engines, Air Pumps and Guns, Balloons, the Stethoscope, Bells, Drums, Stringed Instruments, Wind Instruments, the Organ, Mirrors, Lignthouses, the Microscope, the Telescope, the ae. Photography, Heliography, Heating Apparatus, the Steam Engine, Steam » the Locomotive, the Compass, Lightning Conductors, Electric Telegraphy, and other applications of Elactricity, MACMILLAN & CO,, 22 Bonp Street, NEW YORK. NOW READY. BRITISH BARROWS: A RECORD OF THE EXAMINATION OF SEPULCHRAL MOUNDS IN VARIOUS PARTS OF ENGLAND. BY WILLIAM GREENWELL. TOGETHER WITH DESCRIPTION OF FIGURES OF SKULLS, GENERAL REMARKS ON PREHISTORIC CRANIA, AND AN APPENDIX, By GEORGE ROLLESTON, M.D., F.R.S., Limacre Professor of Anatomy and Physiology and Fellow of Merton College, Oxford. With Illustrations, 8vo. $9. ___‘ The prehistoric inhabitants of Europe are now exciting an interest in the minds of thoughtful men which, twenty years ago, would have seemed impossible, and which can no longer be ignored by the historian. The story of Man in Great Britain is rapidly being unfolded, principally by the careful and Seieatific exploration of the various remains which are eloquent of the condition of things that yo away before the art of letters was known in the North; and among those who have been instrumental in bringing this about, ir, Greenwell will ever deserve a foremost Place. . . . In conclusion, it remains merely to say that this valuable work fills a void in the archeological record of Great Britain, and that it contains a larger mass of accurately-observed facts than ary book hitherto pub- relating to the Bronze age in this couatry."—W. Borp DAWKINS. MACMILLAN & CO. 22 Bonn Strazetr. NEW VORK. NATURE SCIENTIFIC WORKS: PUBLISHED BY MACMILLAN & CO. - — [April 22, 18 vy BACON’S NOVUM ORGANUM. [Edited with Intro- duction, Notes, etc. By THomas Fow er, M.A., Pro- fessor of Logic in the University of Oxford. 8vo, $3.75. A HAND-BOOK of DESCRIPTIVE ASTRONOMY. By Grorce F, Campers, F.R.A.S. Third edition, re- vised throughout and much enlarged. 8vo, $7. ‘“\] have to acknowledge.a greatfamount of very useful advice and assist- ance from observers in all parts of the world, most of them total strangers to me, many of them being persons I had never heard of until the receipt ef theirletters. Indeed, the letters that I have received, especially from the United States of America, have been a very gratifying encouragement to me to persevere in improving this work in every possible way." —£ztract Trem Preface. COAL: ITS HISTORY AND USES. By Professors GreEn, MIALL, THORPE, Ricker, and MARSHALL, of the Yorkshire College. Edited by Prof. THoRPE. 8vo, $4. Contants :—The Geology of Coal—Coal Plants—Animals of the Coal Measures—The Chemistry of Coal—Coal as a Source of Wealth and of Powor—The Coal Question. wv ELEMENTS OF COMPARATIVE ANATOMY. By Cari GEGENBAUR, Professor of Anatomy, and Di- rector of the Anatomical Institute at Heidelberg. Translated by F. Jerrrey Bet, B.A. The Translation revised, and a Preface written by E. RA¥ LANKESTER, M.A., F.R.S., Professor of Zoology and Comparative Anatomy in University College, London. 8vo, $5.50. A TEXT-BOOK OF PHYSIOLOGY. By MIcHAEL Foster, M.A., M.D., F.R.S., Prelector in Physiology, and Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge. Second edition, revised and enlarged. With illustrations, 8vo, $5. THE PRINCIPLES OF SCIENCE. A Treatise on Logic and Scientific Method. By W. STANLEY JEVONs, LL.D., M.A. Second edition, revised. 12mo, $3.50. LECTURES ON SOME RECENT ADVANCES IN PHYSICAL SCIENCE. Witha Special Lecture en Force. By P. G. 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Royal 8vo, $3, ee CONTRIBUTIONS TO SOLAR PHYSICS. Popular Account of Inquiries into the Physical Con tution of the Sun, with special references to rey Spectroscopic Researches, Communicationstothe R Society of London, and the French Academy of Scien with Notes. By J. NORMAN Lockyer, F.R.S. Y 8vo, $7.50. STAR-GAZING: PAST AND PRESENT, Norman Lockyer, F.R.S. Expanded from Sho h Notes of a Course of Royal Institution Lectures, the assistance of G. M. SEABROKE, F.R.AS. 8vo, $ CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE THEORY OF N URAL SELECTION. A Series of Essays. | ALFRED RussEL WALLACE, author of the “ Mala) illustrations. chipelago,” etc, etc. 12mo, $2. ON THE GENESIS OF SPECIES. By H. Sr. Gx Mivart, F.R.S. With numerous illustrations. cond edition, 12mo, $2. PREHISTORIC MAN. Researches into the Ori Civilization in the Old and the New World, DAnieL W11s0N, LL.D., F.R.S.E., Professor of His and English Literature in University College, Tor Third edition, revised and enlarged. 2 vols. 8ve SCIENCE LECTURES AT SOUTH KENSI TON. 12mo, $1.75- ‘ Contents ; — Photography—Light and Colors—Fluorescene: matics of Machinery—Steam-Engine—Radiation—Microscopes— E meters—Apparatus Relating to Vegetable Physiology—Electrical Me ments. . Volume L. INSTITUTION LIBRARIES “TINO 3 9088 01359 6176