2«2 



NA TURE 



[January 20, 1898 



sufficient to decolorise the vases. Thus neither of the three 

 hypotheses was corroborated by experiment. Dr. Folgheraiter 

 suggests as a possible explanation that the clay, after being 

 baked, may have been soaked with bitumen, and then heated 

 to 300° ; it would thus acquire a polished black surface with 

 the colour gradually fading towards the interior, as in these 

 Etruscan vases. 



The " Illustrations of Maori Art," by Mr. H. Hamilton, now 

 in course of publication by the New Zealand Institute, is the 

 most attractive contribution to ethnography we have seen for a 

 long time. The first part of the work, on the Canoes, was issued 

 some months ago, and the second part, dealing with material 

 relating to " Maori Habitations," has lately come to hand. The 



Maori Carvings for Doorways. 



three succeeding parts will be devoted to weapons, dress and 

 decoration, and social life. The present part contains twenty- 

 three plates upon which are reproduced, by half-tone process, 

 photographs of characteristic buildings of the New Zealanders, 

 and ornamentations with which the framework and different 

 parts of the habitations were embellished. The accompanying 

 illustration, which reproduces one of the plates on a reduced 

 scale, is a testimony to the ability of the Maoris as wood- 

 carvers, and to the high quality of the pictorial part of Mr. 

 Hamilton's work. The carvings here shown are ornaments 

 for doorways, the three upper ones being in the South Auckland 

 Museum, and the lower one in Mr. Hamilton's own collection. 



NO. 1473. VOL. 57] 



In addition to illustrations of this kind there are twenty-nine 

 examples, in chromo-lithography, of Maori rafter patterns; 

 diagrams of the construction of a Maori house; a valuable 

 introduction on the habitations of the Maoris ; and descriptive 

 notes on the illustrations. The work is commendable both in 

 plan and execution, and when it is completed we shall refer 

 more fully to its scope and value. 



A I'HOTOGRAPHic method of measuring the height of a balloon, 

 and at the same time comparing the results with those furnished 

 by barometric readings, is described in La Nature for January, 

 by M. L. Cailletet. The apparatus consists of a camera with 

 one lens pointing downwards, by means of which a photograph 

 of the country below the balloon is taken ; at the same time a 

 lens at the top of the camera projects on 

 the upper side of the sensitised film an 

 image of the dial of an aneroid barometer 

 placed above the apparatus. By measuring 

 the distance between any two points on 

 the photographic view, and comparing 

 with a map of the district, the altitude 

 of the balloon can be accurately found, 

 and the law connecting it with the baro- 

 meter reading verified experimentally. 



The Pilot Chart of the North Atlantic 

 Ocean, issued for the present month by the 

 Hydrographer of the United States, shows 

 that some very severe weather was experi- 

 enced during December. Many of the 

 storm centres were in high latitudes, so 

 that vessels along the Transatlantic routes 

 met with north-westerly squalls of hurricane 

 force, accompanied with snow and hail. 

 The most severe storm of the month was 

 one situated about latitude 54° N., longi- 

 tude 44° W., on December 6, and which 

 reached the neighbourhood of the Orkney 

 Isles on the 8th and 9th. For some days 

 the wind blew with hurricane force north 

 of latitude 55° N., and east of longitude 

 20" W. It often happens, especially in 

 the winter season, that in the vicinity of 

 the Azores rough weatherj is experienced 

 or several days at a time ; and, with the 

 view of illustrating the behaviour of these 

 storms, a .synoptic chart of one of them is 

 given. They differ from the storms of 

 other regions in that the barometric de- 

 pression rarely attains any great depth, 

 and that they follow an irregular course, 

 the centre frequently recurving in a 

 manner suggesting an effort to get to the 

 eastward in the face of some resisting 

 force, probably an area of high baro- 

 metric pressure in the vicinity of the 

 British Islands. Another feature of these storms is the suppres- 

 sion of the trade-winds, which is an important consideration 

 for vessels bound from the Equator to the Channel. 



Dr. a. Franz contributes a long paper to the. Deutsche geo- 

 graphische Blatter, on the possibility of establishing regular com- 

 munication by sea between Europe and Western Siberia. The 

 meteorological and hydrographical conditions are examined with 

 as much detail as the somewhat scanty observations available 

 admit ; and the general result seems to show that the 

 difficulties in the way of regular navigation are not insuperable, 

 although sufficiently great to make it doubtful if it is worth 



