Atig. 24, 1876] 



NA TURE 



355 



brane by successive reflections. The power of the 

 receiver is also increased by the introduction into the 

 coil of several rods of iron ; the sound originally some- 

 what snuffling, thus acquires a more agreeable tone. 



M. Reuss calls the attention of physicists to the experi- 

 ment ; we think, with him, that there is here the germ of 

 notable improvements to be made on the electric telegraph. 



Fig. 4. — Sending apparatus.— k, box to collect the vibrations ; tn, caout" 

 chouc membrane closing the box ; o, platinum disc fixed to the mem- 

 brane \ abc, movable lever, supported by the point on the membrane ; 

 ts. manipulating keys for correspondence ; B E, receiving electro- 

 magnet for corresprindence ; 2-1, screws to attach Uie communicating 

 wires to the pile and with the line. 



We do not, however, believe that in its present state, 

 the invention is so complete that we can, at a distance, 

 repeat on one or more pianos the air played by a similar 

 instrument at the point of departure. There is a possi- 

 bility here, we must admit, of a curious use of electricity. 

 Wheri we are going to have a dancing-party, there will 



Fig. s. — Receiving apparatus. — b, box to strencthen the vibrations ; D, lid 

 of this box ; dd, iron wire vibrating by the passage of the current : ^, 

 coil through which \\ e current passes ; i ^, manipulating key for corre- 

 spondence ; I, 2, 3, screws to attach the communicating wires to the 

 pile and to the line. 



be no need to provide a musician. By paying a sub- 

 scription to some enterprising individual, who will, no 

 doubt, come forward to work this vein, we can have from 

 him, a waltz, a quadrille, or a galop, just as we may desire. 

 Simply turn a bell- handle, as we do the cock of a water 

 or gas-pipe, and we shall be supplied with what we want. 

 Perhaps our children may find the thing simple enough. 



INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF AME- 

 RICANISTS. 



T AST July there met in the city of Nancy a congress 

 -*— ^ of a somewhat novel kind (Nature, vol. xii. p. 319) 

 which, at the time, did not attract very much attention, 

 but which, during its four days' sitting, did a considerable 

 amount of work of varied value. This was the Inter- 

 national Congress of Americanists, organised by a society 

 recently formed in France under the designation " La 

 Socidt^ Americaine de France." The society itself appears 



to be French, though the congresses are intended to be 

 international in their character, and among those who 

 were members of the last congress (though not neces- 

 sarily present) were many eminent men belonging to all 

 parts of the world. Among English names we notice those 

 of Dr. Birch, Mr. Charles Darwin, Mr. Franks, Sir John 

 Lubbock, Mr. R. H. Major, Prof. Max Miiller, Sir Henry 

 Rawlinson, Sir Charles Trevelyan, Mr. Triibner, and 

 others. Delegates from various countries were present at 

 the congress, and although most of the papers were by 

 Frenchmen, still a fair proportion were by foreigners, 

 chiefly Americans and Scandinavians. Two thick octavo 

 volumes' contain the proceedings of the congress. 



The object of this French society in holding these 

 congresses is to contribute to the progress of ethno- 

 graphical, linguistic, and historical studies relative to the 

 two Americas, especially for the times anterior to Chris- 

 topher Columbus, and to bring into connection with each 

 other persons who are interested in these studies. The 

 subsciiption is only twelve francs, and the council is 

 composed of a certain proportion of French and of foreign 

 members. The president of the Nancy congress was tfe 

 Baron de Dumast, but at each of the lour seances for the 

 reading of papers he very gracefully called to the chair 

 a distinguished foreign member to preside over the day's 

 proceedmgs. During the congress an interesting exhi- 

 bition of objects relating to American ethnography and 

 antiquities was held. 



The subjects with which the congress dealt were 

 divided into three sections — History, Ethnography, and 

 Linguistics and Palaeography, though, as might be sur- 

 mised, many of the papers bore on all these subjects. 

 Though the subjects were thus divided, the congress^ met 

 as one body each day. 



Such an international congress as this, it will be 

 admitted, might do great strvice to science. The ethno- 

 graphy and prehistoric archaeology of America are of 

 the hightst importance ; they are a prime factor in the 

 great problem of the world's ethnography. If, then, an 

 international American congress were based on well- 

 defined principles, and if its work were conducted in 

 accordance with the universally recognised rules of scien- 

 tific method, it might give a powerful impulse to the pro- 

 gress of American ethnology in particular, and to ethno- 

 graphy in general. We shall brietly endeavour to give 

 the reader an idea of the value of the contents of the two 

 volumes before us. 



Among the first papers is one of considerable length, 

 by M. E. Beauvois, the purpose of which is to prove that 

 the " Irland it mikla," or " Hvitramannaland " of the 

 early Icelandic chroniclers was a colony founded by Irish 

 m ssionaries, apparently near the mcuth of the St. Law- 

 rence, long before even the Norseman knew anything of 

 America. One cannot but admire the learning, ingenuity, 

 and enthusiasm of M. Beauvois, but the veraict must be 

 the Scotch one of " not proven, ' with a note that it was 

 scarcely worth while calling together an international 

 congress to listen to a paper of this kind. 



This may be regarded as a type, and rather a favour- 

 able one, of a large number of the papers read at the 

 Nancy congress, papers whose object was to show the 

 intimate connection which in prehistoric times existed 

 between the peoples of the Old World and those of the 

 New. A paper by Prof. Paul Gaffarel of Dijon, for 

 example, had for its object to show the great probability 

 that the Phoenicians had found their way across the 

 Atlantic to America, North and South, and that in various 

 ways they left traces of their presence behind. This is a 

 somewhat more sober paper than that of M. Beauvois, 

 still the verdict must be essentially the same. 



Of course the questions of Buddhists in America and of 

 " Fu-Sang" got their share of attention, with the usual 



I Cone res International des Americanistes. Compte- Rendu de la Premiere 

 Ses:>ion, Nancy, 1875. (Paris, Maisonneuve et Cie.) 



