April 27, 1876] 



NA TURE 



535 



before. The presence of vertebrae ol the bare in the breccia 

 'Aould imply that the hunters who occupied the cave had not the 

 ^g as a domestic animal. After a discussion of the relations of 

 i animals forming the fauna of the cave, the author proceeded 

 . < describe the traces of man found in it, which consist of frag- 

 ments of charcoal, and implements made of antler and mammoth 

 ■- oth, quartzite, ironstone, greenstone, and flint. The distribu- 

 n of these implements in the cave represents three distinct 

 iges. In the cave-earth the existence of man is indicated by 

 e quartzite implements, which are far ruder than those gene- 

 .ly formed of the more easily fashioned flint. Out of 94 

 jrked quartzite pebbles only three occurred in the breccia, 

 ile of 267 worked flints only 8 were met with in the cave- 

 Tth. The ruder implements were thus evidently the older, 

 rresponding in general form with those assigned by De Mor- 

 .et to " the age of Moustier and St Acheul," represented in 

 ingland by the ruder implements of the lower breccia in Kent's 

 ilole. The newer or flint series includes some highly-finished 

 1 piemen ts, such as are referred by De Mortillet to "the age 

 Solutre," and are found in England in the cave-earth of 

 ent's Hole and Wookey Hole. The discovery of these imple- 

 ents considerably extends the range of the palaeolithic hunters 

 the north and west, and at the same time' establishes a direct 

 relation in point of time between the ruder types of implements 

 below and the more highly-finished ones above. — Notes on the 

 -.vels, sands, and other superficial deposits in the neighbour- 

 od of Newrton-Abbot, by Horace B. Woodward, F.G.S. The 

 -iter pointed out that most of the deposits termed Upper 

 eaasand in the immediate neighbourhood of Xewton- Abbot, 

 ;re in reaUty intercalated with coarse gravel-beds, containing, 

 long others, fragments of greensand, chert, and chalk-flini, 

 ; e considered that the only traces of greensand in situ were 

 obably on the summit of Milber Down and east of Combe 

 -rm, deposits which were identified by Mr. God win- Austen. 

 at he could not agree in the identification of greensand at other 

 call ties in the Bovey Valley, considering the few fossils found 

 aave been derivedi rom, and with much other material to have 

 ;en evidently due to ,the denucUition of chalk and greensand. He 

 inted out the geographical distribution of taese beds of sand 

 A gravel, which extend from the hill-tops bordering the Bovey 

 L^,ll=y to near the bottom of the valley, but do not descend into 

 y outlying valleys. He likewise aliiuied to the peculiar dip 

 the vaJey which afiects these beds in several places, and 

 -served that sometimes they rested on the Bovey clays and 

 ;»ites. He thought some connection in their method ot form- 

 :;on might be traced with somewhat similar deposits on the 

 .aldon and Black Down Hills. He pointed out the " Head" 

 ; the bottom of the valley was sometimes not to-4»e distinguished 

 jm the older gravels, from which, however, it was largely 

 e rived. He alluded to the discovery ot boues, a bronze spear- 

 .ad, and a wooden doll or idol in this deposit ; observing that 

 ey indicated the rapid accumulation of gravel, and that this 

 iication was one out of many that might be given, that our 

 Ddem river-gravels are to a great extent made up of older 

 avels. In conclusion the writer alluded to some of the deposits 

 J.V forming on the margin of the Teign estuary, and which are 

 entical in character with the Triassic breccia. — On certain 

 liuvial deposits associated with the Plymouth limestone, by R. 

 X. Worth, F.G. S. The author adduced certain deposits found in 

 hsiures and caverns of the Plymouth limestone, as furnishing 

 . idence in opposition to the views advocated by Mr. Belt in his 

 aper on the drifts of Devon and Cornwall.^ The best ex- 

 aples occur at Plymouth Hoe, where the chief deposit fills a 

 rge "pocket" in the limestone, and consists (beneath the turf) 

 f a bed of clayey soil, containing pebbles and small boulders, 

 beneath which are patches of w^hite and red clay, containing a 

 few pebbles, and overlying a large quantity of siUceous sand, 

 - imidar, but slightly varying deposits, not unfrequently occur in 

 -sociation with the limestone ; and these are regarded by the 

 .Uior as the remains of considerable deposits which once occu- 

 ied large areas in the valleys of South Devon ; and if they are 

 jt the lowland gravels of Mr. Belt, the latter are not repre- 

 ented in the district. The author states that there is evidence 

 ■-A the contemporaneity of these deposits with those of the Ores- 

 ton caves ; and he adds that they furnish no proof of cataclysmal 

 action, but of orderly deposidon, the bulk of the pebbles and 

 gravels being inland nearer the source of the debris, and further 

 off the sanos ana clays in fairly regular succession. The author 

 farther explains the presence in Cornwall of stanniferous gravels 



"^ See " Qnazt. Jonm. Geol. Sot," voL xzziL, p. 80. 



only in valleys opening to the south, by reference to the position 

 of the watershed in that county, which has only two rivers run- 

 ning to the north, whilst on the south-east rivers abotmd. 



Physical Society, April 8. — Mr. W. Spottiswoode, vice- 

 president, in the chair. — Mr. H. M. Klaassen was elected a 

 member of the Society. — Prof. Foster exhibited and described an 

 instrument for illustrating the law of refraction. It is founded 

 on the well-known method of determining the direction of the 

 ray after refraction by means of two circles described from the 

 point of incidence as centre, the ratio of whose radii is the index 

 of refraction. If the incident ray be projected to meet the iimer 

 circle, and through the point of intersection a vertical line be 

 drawn, the line drawn from the point of incidence to the point 

 where this meets the outer circle is the direction after refraction. 

 This principle is applied in making a self-adjusting apparatus as 

 follows : — A rod representing the incident ray is pivoted at the 

 point of incidence, and projects to a point about 4 inches beyond. 

 To this extremity is attached a vertical rod which sUdes through 

 a nut in another rod also pivoted at the point of incidence. The 

 lower extremity of the vertical rod is attached to a link, so fixed 

 as to constrain it to remain vertical. By this means the two 

 rods always represent respectively the incident and refracted 

 rays, and the index of refraction can be varied by altering the 

 position of the nut, through which the vertical rod passes, on 

 the rod to which it is attached. — Prof. Foster then exhibited a 

 simple arrangement for showing the interference of waves. It 

 consists of two glass plates placed one in firont of the other, on 

 each of which is drawn the ordinary sine wave. They are sup- 

 ported in a frame, and behind them is a paper^screen bearing lines 

 to indicate the points of maximum and minimum displacement. 



; The plates can be made to slide in opposite directions, and all the 

 pheaomenaofwavemotiongenerally,andthestateof the airinopen 



I and closed tubes can be shown. Lastly he exhibited a method, 

 which has been su^ssted by Prof. Kundt, for showing in a 

 simple manner that the air in an organ pipe is in a constant state 

 of alternate condensation and rarefaction. At the upper end of 

 a closed pipe are placed two valves opening inwards and out- 

 wards respectively, and the chambers behind these are connected 

 by india-rubber tubes with small water-gua^es which, for the 

 sake of exhibition, were projected on the screen. The gnages 

 were to the eye permanently set, showing at the same time con- 

 densation and rarefaction, an appearance which was of course 

 due to the rapidity of change. It was shown that beats cause 

 the air to approximate to its normal density. — Prof. Guthrie 

 exhibited and described an arrangementwhich he thought might be 

 useful for determining the rate at which machinery is revolving. 

 The instrument is analogous to one which he devised some years 

 ago for rendering a galvanic current constant. The chamber of a 

 manometer is connected with a small force-pump, which makes 

 one complete stroke for every revolution of the engine. A 

 capillary glass tube affords a means of escape for the air intro- 

 duced by the pimip into the manometer. If now the pump be 

 worked tmiformly, that is if the engine rotates unifonnly,the 

 pressure in the manometer will shordy attain a position of 

 equilibrium, so that the mercury will remain stationary. Bat if 

 the velocity of the engine increase, the mercury will immediately 

 ascend, and so indicate this increase of speed. The main ob- 

 jection to the instrument, as exhibited, was the oscillation of the 

 mercury, but this might be avoided in several wa3rs which were 

 pointed out. — Mr. CoflBn referred to some works in America 

 where he had seen a similar principle appUed. The engine was 

 connected with an air chamber, to which was applied a Lo jrdon's 

 gauge, the indications of which gave an approximate measure ot 

 the revolutions of the engine. — Prot Unwin thought there would 

 be some difficulty in keeping the capillary orifice perfect for any 

 length of time. He referred to a proposal made by Prot. Thom- 

 son in about 1S52 to tise a centrifugal pump for a similar 

 purpose. 



Anthropological Institute, April 11. — Col. A. Lane Fox, 

 president, in the chair. — Five new members were announced. — 

 A note on some suggested archaeological symbols for maps, by 

 Mr. Joass, was read by Capt. Dillon. — Dr. Comrie, R.N., read 

 a paper entitied " Anthropol(^cal Notes on the Natives of New 

 Guinea," being the result of his observations while attached to 

 H. M.S. Basilisk, engaged surveying there. The physical, social, 

 and religious character of the Papuans were discussed, and the 

 probable Polynesian intermixture and origin of the natives of 

 New Giunea considered, the author incUning to the opinion that 

 the Papuan was a ptire type of race, the most characteristic fea- 



