i8o 



NATURE 



\jfune 20, 1889 



The Glasgmv Herald states that last year, while some work- 

 men were engaged in drainage operations at Lochavullin for the 

 purpose of forming a public park, they discovered what was 

 believed to be an old "crannog " or lake-dwelling, and several 

 experts who visited it were of opinion that it was a very good 

 specimen of an ancient lake- dwelling. Arrangements were 

 made by the Town Council for its being properly investigated 

 and preserved as far as possible, but the weather has rendered 

 operations impracticable till within the last few days. Work- 

 men are now engaged in excavating round the place, and 

 recently it was visited by Mr. Cochran- Patrick, Under-Secretary 

 for Scotland, and other gentlemen interested. Among the 

 articles turned up by the workmen during the examination were 

 a stone bullet, such as would have been used in the slings of the 

 period to which the dwelling is supposed to have belonged, and 

 portions of the wattle used in the construction of the dwelling. 

 Prof. Hedley, of St. Andrews, took some photographs of the 

 place. 



Mr. H. B. Cresson, of Philadelphia, has been studying 

 certain stakes or piles, which were first pointed out to him nearly 

 twenty years ago, by a fisherman, in the mud at the mouth of 

 Naaman's Creek, a small tributary of the Delaware River. 

 These piles are the first indication of anything in North America 

 resembling the remains of lake-dwellings in Europe. Prof. 

 F. W. Putnam, in his twenty-second Annual Report relating to 

 the work of the Peabody Museum, says that Mr. Cresson's recent 

 investigations led to the discovery of three distinct localities, near 

 each other, which he designated Stations A, B, and C, Around 

 these stations were found a very important and instructive collec- 

 tion of stone implements, a few points and fragments of bone, 

 and a human tooth. At one station a number of fragments of 

 rude pottery were found, and at this were obtained several pile- 

 ends which are now in the Museum. This collection Mr. 

 Cresson has given to the Museum, and he proposes soon to pre- 

 pare a full account of his discoveries for publication. The Museum 

 is also indebted to Mr. A. B. Huey, of Philadelphia, for a number 

 of specimens which he obtained while with Mr. Cresson during 

 the examination of Station B, and to Mr. W. R. Thompson, of 

 Philadelphia, for several potsherds, and a large stone maul with 

 a hole drilled through it, from the same station. 



Mr. a. E. Brown, Superintendent of the Philadelphia Zoo- 

 logical Garden, says in his last Report that among the most 

 valued additions to the collection of reptiles, during the past 

 year, were five iguanas from the Isle of Pines, West Indies. 

 These were at once seen to be different from any previously in 

 the collection, and were subsequently identified by Prof. E. D. 

 Cope as Cyclura nubila. Gray. The habit noticeable among 

 the iguanas, of remaining fixed in one position when the atten- 

 tion is excited, or of " striking attitudes," is specially marked in 

 these animals, and, several of them being of large size, they 

 have attracted considerable attention. They are of an aggressive 

 disposition, and cannot b e readily handled, as they strike blows 

 of astonishing force with their long tails, and bite with great 

 tenacity any object with which they are disturbed. As with 

 the better-known iguanas, their most suitable food in captivity 

 appears to be bananas, hens' eggs, and milk. 



In the same Report, Mr. Brown says that the Philadelphia Zoo- 

 logical Society lately received , from the proprietor of a menagerie, 

 a splendid male elephant called " Bolivar." The animal came 

 originally from Ceylon, is now about thirty years old, stands 

 nearly lo feet in height at the shoulder, and weighs nearly 

 10,000 pounds. "It may well be doubted," says Mr. Brown, 

 *'if a finer specimen of his race has ever been included in a 

 zoological collection." 



Messrs. Blackie and Son have issued the second volume of 

 their excellent " Modern Cyclopaedia of Universal Information," 



edited by Dr. Charles Annandale. The present volume, if we 

 may judge from the articles we have examined, is in all respects 

 equal to the first, which wc have already noticed. 



We have received from Tashkent an interesting Russian work, 

 by A. Wilkins, on the culture of the American cotton-tree in 

 Russian Turkestan. It appears that, though the first attempts 

 at cultivating the Gossypitim hirsutuni in Central Asia proved 

 unsuccessful, a new attempt, made since 1884, under the 

 leadership of the Tashkent model farm, and with seeds 

 taken from the continental States of America, has proved to 

 be a real success. In 1887, there were no less than 38,700 

 acres under that crop in Turkestan, and in the following 

 year the area was trebled. The crop of 1887 was estimated at 

 68,000 cwts. of raw cotton. Besides giving practical advice for 

 the culture of the American colton-tree, M. Wilkins's book con- 

 tains valuable information about the climate of Turkestan, 

 analyses of the soil and so on, from which it appears that, although 

 the American species can be cultivated about Tashkent, where 

 from 214 to 237 days every year are without frost, its real domain 

 will be on the banks of the Zerafshan and the lower Amu-Daria, 

 and in the Transcaspian region. It is also worthy of note that a 

 new interesting variety of Gossypium hirsutum, differentiated by 

 the fact that its flowers grow in groups of two, three, and four on 

 a common slalk, has been obtained at the Tashkent model farm. 



The additions to the Zoological Society's Gardens during 

 the past week include two Prairie Wolves (Canis latrans S 9 ) 

 from the Rocky Mountains, presented by Mr. Charles Martin ; 

 two Long-fronted Gerbilles {Gerbillns longifrotis) from Western 

 Asia, presented by Lieut. -General Sir Harry B. Lumsden, 

 K. C.S.I. ; a Chattering Lory {Lorius garrulus) from Moluccas, 

 presented by Mr. Thomas Taylor ; two Slender-billed Cockatoos 

 {Licmetis tenuirostris) from South Australia, two Coffin's 

 Cockatoos {Cacatua gflffini), habitat uncertain, presented by Dr. 

 Seton ; two Razorbills {Alca (orda), British, presented by Dr. 

 B. Hewetson ; two Viperine Snakes {Tropidonotus viper- 

 inus), three Green Lizards {Lacerta viridis), two Marbled Newts 

 {Molge marmorata), two Spotted Salamanders {Salamandra 

 maculosa), two Edible Frogs {Ratia esailenla), three Green 

 Tree-Frogs {Hyla arborea) from Southern France, presented by the 

 Rev. F. n. Holmes ; a Smooth Snake (Coronella lavis) from 

 Southern France, presented by Miss Agnes Flemyng ; a Cocos- 

 nut Crab {Birgtis latro i ) from India, presented by Commander 

 Alfred Carpenter, R.N. ; two Nicobar Pigeons {Calanas nico- 

 barica i 9 ) from the Indian Archipelago, a Collared Peccary 

 {Dicoiyles tajafu) from South America, three Australian Waxbills 

 (Estrelda temporalis) from Australia, purchased ; three New 

 Zealand Parakeets {Cyanorhamphus nova-zealandid) from New 

 Zealand, received in exchange ; a Black Lemur {Lemur inacaco), 

 an Axis Deer {Cei-viis axis 9 ), born in the Gardens. 



OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN. 



Two Remarkable Conjunctions. — Mr. Marth called the 

 attention of the Royal Astronomical Society at its last meeting, 

 on June 14, to two remarkable conjunctions which will occur in 

 the autumn of the present year, and which should be most care- 

 fully watched by astronomers the world over. The first is the 

 conjunction of Mars and Saturn on September 20, at 2oh, 

 G.M.T., the closest conjunction of the two planets on record, 

 the geocentric distance being only 54", so that to the naked eye 

 the two stars would probably appear to coalesce. The conjunc- 

 tion is rendered the more interesting from its occurring in the 

 near neighl:'ourhood of Kegulus, which will be distant only 4' 

 of arc ; whilst Venus passes over the same region of the sky 

 three days later, passing within 12' of Regulus. The conjunction 

 of Mars with the .Saturnian system on September 20 will be 

 so close [hat it will have a very narrow escape of occulting 

 lapetus, the two being 12" apart at 22h. 



