May 2, 1889] 



NATURE 



15 



A NEW number of the Internationales Archiv fur Ethno- 

 graphic has been issued. It consists of Parts I. and II. of the 

 second vohinie ; and the contents, as in every preceding number 

 of this excellent periodical, are full of interest for students of 

 ethnography. There are three long articles — all in German. 

 In the first, Dr. F. von Fuschan gives an instalment, carefully 

 illustrated, of a paper on an amusement popular in Turkey, 

 corresponding to the magic lantern. The second is an elaborate 

 essay, also illustrated, by Dr. II. Schurtz, on knives made in 

 various parts of Africa for the purpose of being thrown. In the 

 third article, Mr. R. Parkinson, of New Britain, brings together 

 many valuable ethnological facts relating to the inhabitants 

 of the Gilbert Islands. 



The "Uses of Plants," by Prof. G. S. Boulger, which is 

 about to be published by Messrs. Roper and Drowley, is a 

 manual of economic botany, having special reference to 

 vegetable products introduced during the last fifty years. It 

 enumerates all vegetable substances in use in England as food, 

 materia medica, oil«, gums, rubbers, dyeing, tanning, and 

 paper- making materials, fibres, timber, &c., both home-grown 

 and imported ; and there are short essays on the recent progress 

 of vegetable technology in its various branches. 



In a Report lately received, Mr. W. Fawcett, Director of 

 Public Gardens and Plantations, Jamaica, gives an interesting 

 account of a visit of a few days to the Cayman Islands during 

 May 1888. In an appendix he gives a list of the plan's he col- 

 lected, for the determination of which he expresses indebtedness 

 to the authorities at Kew. " From this list," says Mr. Fawcett, 

 "it will be seen that about 20 per cent, of the species are found 

 more or less throughout the tropics. They are such as one 

 might expect to find on any tropical island. It is interesting to 

 note that one of the ferns {Acrostichum aureuvi) which is found 

 growing to a height of 6 to 10 feet in swamps in Jamaica and 

 throughout the tropics, was one of the first plants to establish 

 itself on the Island of Krakatab, where the terrible volcanic dis- 

 turbance completely destroyed every vestige of plant life. On 

 its shore was also found the fruit of another plant occurring in 

 the Cayman Islands, viz. the almond tree ( Terminalia Catappa)." 



At a recent meeting of the Royal Asiatic Society of Japan, a 

 paper wa.s read by Dr. Seymour on the hygiene of Japanese 

 houses, in which he disproves the common idea that dwelling- 

 houses in that country are very unhealthy. A Japanese house, 

 is, on the whole, suited to Jai anese life. The extreme airiness 

 of the structure prevents the charcoal fires doing the inhabitants 

 any injury. Its chief defects can be easily remedied. The 

 boarding of the floor can be made more close-fitting ; ventilating 

 panels should be used ; the ceilings could with advantage 

 be higher, and the drainage ihould be well looked af er. 

 Amongst foreigners there is distinctly more illness in brick and 

 stone houses than in the wood or frame houses, on account of 

 the damp remaining in the walls of the brick houses while it dries 

 up almost immediately in the others. The remarkably small 

 infant mortality'amongst the Japanese shows that their houses are 

 healthy and suited to iheir modes of life. 



Mr. F. a. Heron has been appointed an Assistant in the 

 Zoological Department of the British Museum, not in the 

 Geological Department, as ■ stated (by a printer's error) in 

 Nature, vol, xxxix. p. 590. 



The additions to the Zoological Society's Gardens during the 

 past week include two Macaque Monkeys {Macacus cynomolgus 

 <? ? ), from India, presented by Mr. J. G. Mackie ; two Caracals 

 {Fclis caracal) from Bechuanaland, presented by Captain Treville 

 Cookson ; a Ring-tailed Coati {Nasua riifu) from South America, 

 presented by Mr. William Shiell ; a Lmgeared Owl {Asiootus), 

 P^uropean, presented by Mr. Thomas B. Butler; three Orbicular 

 Horned Lizards [Fhrynosoma orbicularc) from Mexico, pre- 

 sented by Mr. T. H. Collins; a Rhesus Monkey {Ma,cacm 



rhesus 9 ), four Concave- casqued Hombills {Dichoceros bicornis 

 c5 (5 9 9 ) from India, a Crowned Ilornbill [Anthracoceros 

 coronatiis) from Malabar, a Nepalese Ilornbill {Accros ncpa- 

 lensis) from Nepal, deposited ; a Peacock Pheasant {Polyplec- 

 tron chinqtiis 6 ) from British Burmah, a Squacco Heron {Ardect 

 ralloides) from Southern Europe, purchased ; a Yellow-footed 

 Rock Kangaroo {Petrogale xanlhopus 9 ). a Derbian Wallaby 

 [Halmaturus derbianus 9 ), born in the Menagerie. 



OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN. 



The April Meteors. — Few of the April meteors appear 

 to have been visible this year. They were watched for by Prof. 

 Herschel at Croydon, Mr. Denning at Bristol, Mr. Backhouse- 

 at Hurwoith (near Darlington), Mr. Monck at Dublin, and 

 other observers. The shower of Lyrids was but weakly repre- 

 sented, and meteors generally were scarce. Several conspicuous 

 ones were, however, recorded from the secondary streams of the 

 April epoch. On April 20, at loh. i6m., a meteor equal to- 

 Sirius was seen between Corvus and Virgo by Mr. Backhouse, 

 and at the same time Prof. Herschel recorded a second-mag- 

 nitude in Perseus. A comparison of the two paths shows the 

 objects to have been identical, .and the heights of the meteor at 

 its beginning and end points, as computed by Prof. Herschel^ 

 were 50 and 46 miles respectively (over Derbyshire), which is- 

 much lower than usual. The radiant-point was at 301° + 34°. 

 Another brightish meteor was seen on April 21, at loh. i6m., 

 by Prof. Herschel and Mr. Denning, and its heights were from* 

 76 miles above a point near Newport, Monmouthshire, to 60 

 miles near Brecon. The radiant was at 217" - 2°, near fi Virginis. 

 A fine meteor, quite equal to \^enus, was observed at Bristol on 

 April 27, at 8h. 51m., slowly descending in Hercules. Its path 

 was from about 218° -)- 49^° to 249° + 32^°. It^left a trail of 

 sparks as it fell, and its lustre fluctuated in a remarkable manner. 



The White Sfot on Saturn's Ring. — Prof. Holdea 

 reports that a careful examination of the ring of the planet with 

 the great Lick equatorial on several evenings from March 2 to 

 March 24 has resulted in the detection of no abnormal appearince 

 in it. A kind of yellowish deformation or lump was indeed! 

 noticed close to the shadow on two or three occasions, but it 

 proved to be due partly to bad definition, for it was only seer» 

 when the air was unsteady, and partly to contrast, for a similar 

 appearance was produced in any part of the ring by the use of 

 an occulting bar. 



The Variable X Cygnl — Mr. Yendall gives a new deter- 

 mination of the elements of this variable in Gould's Astionomica^ 

 Journal, No. 191. Discovered by Mr. Chandler in 1886, it 

 has proved a variable of very interesting character, and its light 

 changes still require much stu<"y. The rise from minimum to 

 maximum is generally sharp, but the interval varies much in 

 length, the range being from 3'3 days to 87 days ; the mean 

 interval being 6'9 days. The curve is flat at minimum, and fron> 

 these two circumstances Mr. Yendall has confined himself to the 

 use of the maxima alone in the determination of his new ele- 

 ments. The decrease from maximum to minimum shows a. 

 remarkable halt, sometimes a positive rise, almost important 

 enou{,h to be considered a secondary maximum. Lastly, the 

 magnitude touched at the extreme points of the curve varies- 

 from epoch to epoch, but with a general correspondence between 

 the two phases, a bright maximum being accompanied by a 

 bright minimum, and the contrary. A connection between the- 

 duration of the rise and the brightness at maximum has not yet 

 been established. The elements given by Mr. Yendall are — 

 1886 October lod. 6h. irSm. Camb. M.T. ± 52 sm. -I- 

 i6d. gh. 36m. 51S. ± 23s. E. 



Photographic Determination of the Brightness of 

 THE Stars. — No. 7 of vol. xviii. of the Annals of the Harrarct 

 College Obse> vatory details the progress of the researches in stellar 

 photography carried on at that institution by the assistance of 

 the Bache fund, the particular direction in which the inquiry is 

 being carried on being the determination of stellar magnitudes- 

 by means of photography. The present work is concerned with 

 the dcterminatii n of the brightness of the stars in three par- 

 ticular regions, each with special qualifications for the functions 

 of standard stars ; viz. icoo close circumpolar >tar«, 420 stars itt 

 the Pleiades, and over i lOO equatorial stars. These three cata- 

 logues have been prepared with great care ; the errors of the 

 different photographic plates fully CNamined, and the relation of 

 photometric to photographic magnitude investigated. The work 



