486 



NATURE 



[September 29, 1923 



Research Items. 



Magu:mose Culture in East Yorkshire. — The 

 discovery of the Maglemose harpoon at the lacustrine 

 deposits at Skipsea has led Mr. A. Leslie Armstrong 

 to examine, in search of further examples of Magle- 

 mose culture in Yorkshire, the strata exposed by 

 recent erosion on the Holderness coast. In the 

 September issue of Man he describes a number of 

 flint implements found in the course of his explora- 

 tion. He remarks that "it is significant that when 

 ? laced side by side with a series of the usual East 

 'orks artifacts from the surface, these deeply stained 

 examples from the silt and peat beds are as distinctive 

 theren^om in type as they are in patination. and 

 that they can be paralleled in both patina and type 

 onlv bv crrtain implements of a dark brown and 

 hipiil\ lustrous patina found upon one or two re- 

 stricted areas in the vicinity of Skipsea and Atwick, 

 upon elevated ground, which there is reason to believe 

 represent former islands in the ancient inarsliland 

 and sites of early occupation." 



Neolithic Man in Patagonia. — In " liabitantes 

 Neoliticos del Lago Buenos Aires " {Revista del Museo 

 de La Plata, xxvii. pp. 85-160), Dr. Jos6 Imbel- 

 loni describes human remains from Lago Buenos 

 Aires — a place far away in the south-west of Pata- 

 gonia, which must not be confused with the town 

 of Buenos Aires. It would appear that the number 

 of prehistoric skeletons found in Patagonia diminishes 

 rapidly from north to south. The description, there- 

 fore, of a number of finds near Lago Buenos Aires, 

 in the south-west, is of special importance. The ten 

 skulls described were found so long ago as 1897 by 

 Dr. S. Roth under constructions called chenques — 

 erections consisting of stones heaped over the bodies 

 more or less symmetrically without there being any 

 form of dug graves. A number of these chenques 

 occur in the region of the lake in question. Their 

 age is stated to be Neolithic, though the only proof 

 appears to be the absence of metal (other than 

 precious) from the funeral furniture associated with 

 the burial. Neolithic culture it may be, but of what 

 date in time ? To the student of the physical 

 structure of the early inhabitants of this part of the 

 world Dr. Imbelloni's brochure will be of interest, 

 for a long and detailed description of the skulls is 

 given. Comparisons with similar remains from 

 further north are also included. Mention is made of 

 some of the prehistoric skulls of the Old World, but, 

 though interesting, it is to be doubted if any real 

 correlation between types and even cultures of the 

 New and Old Worlds is ever really likely to be fruitful. 



Surveys in Greenland. — The work of the Danish 

 bicentenary expedition to North Greenland under 

 Mr. Lange Koch included important explorations in 

 Peary Land. Some account of this work with 

 preliminary maps appears in an article in the Geo- 

 graphical Journal for August. The expedition filled 

 in the surveys of the north coast between De Long 

 Fjord and Cape Bridgman, thus practically com- 

 pleting the general sur\'ey of the coasts of Greenland. 

 On the return journey the southern part of Peary 

 Land was explored and surveyed, and the problem 

 of the so-called Peary Channel reported by the late 

 Admiral Peary in 1892 was finally solved. Erichsen 

 in 1907 found that the channel as a seaway did not 

 exist, but Mr. Koch has now discovered the reason 

 of Peary's mistake. The course of the " channel " 

 between J. P. Koch Fjord and Bronland Fjord is 

 occupied by a long low valley, the flow of which is 

 about 200 metres above sea level. Wandel valley, 

 as it is named, separates Peary Land from the rest 



NO. 2^ I 3, VOL. I I 2] 



of Greenland. Peary Land is thus virtually an island, 

 and probably during the ixriod of greatest glacial 

 subsidence in the past u ly separate. It con- 



sists of a northern mount of two parallel chains 



each rising to above 2000 metres and a southern plateau 

 nowhere over 1000 metres. This plateau is low in 

 the east and higher in the west, ixxal glaciers fill 

 many of the valleys. The expedition also did 

 important surveys in Wulff Land at the head of 

 Sherard Osbom Fjord and in Washington Land, east 

 of Kennedy channel. 



Earthquake in mi Bay of Chijiwa 

 Journal of the Meteorological Society of Japan for 

 January contains an article by Mr. Saemontaro 

 Nakamura on the earth<iuake which occurred near 

 Nagasaki on December 8, 1922, when 27 persons were 

 killed, 1 1 were injured, and 182 houses were destroyed. 

 Microseismic observations at several stations. ' the 

 directions and durations of the earth-sound in the 

 epicentral region, and the direction and intensity of 

 the shocks, indicate an epicentre in the Bav of 

 Chijiwa. It had the typical tectonic characteristics 

 with regard to the time of distribution of after-shocks, 

 and the distribution of the direction of the first 

 movement at stations about the epicentre. The 

 axis of the dislocation deduced by the first movement 

 coincides with a geographical, or geological feature 

 of the locality. It caused no changes on Mt. Unzen, 

 an active volcano quite near the epicentre of the 

 earthquake. It may be supposed that this earth- 

 quake has no direct relation with the volcanic 

 eruption of Mt. Unzen. The locality affected is 

 situated about 500 miles to the west-south-west of 

 the recent intense earthquake which involved Tokyo, 

 Yokohama and the surrounding countrv'. 



Weather in Canada. — The meteorological service 

 of the Dominion of Canada publishes regularly a 

 monthly Weather Map, and the map for July last 

 has recently reached us. Observations of air tem- 

 perature and rainfall are shown for the several 

 meteorological stations comprised in the chart. 

 The differences of temperature from the normal are 

 indicated by lines, much as we show isotherms. 

 Rainfall amounts are shown by a varying degree of 

 shading. July temperatures were higher than normal 

 over most of the interior of British Columbia, in 

 Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and Kenora, 

 Rainy River and Thunder Bay regions of Ontario. 

 From the eastern end of Lake Superior to the Atlantic 

 Ocean they were below normal. The greatest excess 

 of temperature, about 8°, occurred in Manitoba, 

 and the greatest defect, about 6°, in northern New 

 Brunswick. Precipitation over the greater part of 

 the wheat region of the Western F*rovinces ranged 

 from three to seven inches. Coupled with the 

 meteorological notes, the conditions of crops and 

 fruit are shown for the different parts of the Dominion. 



Salt-marsh Mosquitoes. — The valuable work of 

 Mr. J. F. Marshall and his associates on the Hayling 

 Mosquito Control has already been commented upon 

 in these columns (Nature, August 19, 1922, p. 261) 

 in reviewing the first report of that body. Since then 

 steady progress has been made, as instanced in the 

 second report (issued in May last) and in a recent 

 article and letter in the Field. For any success in 

 mosquito control work it is essential to arouse public 

 interest and co-operation, and Mr. Marshall h;^ 

 succeeded in doing this at Hayling Island. Furthc: 

 it is satisfactory to learn that the example of Hayling 

 has already been copied by Gosport, where a similar 

 local " control " has been organised under the 



