374 



NATURE 



[August 15, 1889 



Curadio, Messrs. C. V. Riley and L. O. Howard state that this 

 insect has brought about an almost entire abandonment of plum 

 culture in many parts of America within the last twenty years ; 

 but it is by no means confined to this fruit. It breeds in great 

 numbers in cherries, peaches, apricots, nectarines, and other 

 stone fruits, including the Persimmon, and also infests many 

 varieties of apples, crabs, and haws. It prefers, however, 

 smooth-skined fruits. It is also a common inhabitant of the 

 fungus growth of plum and cherry known as "Black Knot" 

 {Plrnvrightia morhosa), from which it was first reared by Peck 

 in 1818. Under the headings, " Habits and Natural History," 

 "Natural Enemies," and "Remedies," the authors of the 

 paper (which has just been reissued separately) give full infor- 

 mation as to the pest to which they have devoted so much 

 attention. 



The "Catalogue of the Moths of India," on which the 

 compilers, Colonel C. Swinhoe and Mr. E. C. Cotes, have been 

 engaged for three years, is completed ; and an elaborate index has 

 now been published. The compilers claim that the " Catalogue " 

 comprises all the known moths of the Indian region, including 

 Burma and Ceylon. 



The Madras Journal of Litcrattirc and Science, for the 

 session 1888-89, contains, besides various other papers, the 

 second part of an elaborate treatise, by Gustav Oppert, on the 

 original inhabitants of India. In the first he treated of the 

 Dravidians ; here he deals with the other aboriginal tribes, 

 whom he classes together under the name of the Gaudians. In 

 the third part he proposes to set forth various conclusions to be 

 drawTi from this inquiry, supported by as much trustworthy 

 evidence as he may be able to collect. 



The University Correspondence College, Cambridge, has sent 

 us a copy of its latest "Matriculation Directory." The volume 

 is full of information that will be useful to persons who propose 

 to pass the matriculation examination of the London University. 

 In the parts relating to text-books, much excellent advice is 

 offered to candidates. 



The Mason Science College, Birmingham, has issued its 

 syllabus of day classes for the session 1889-90. 



The Agricultural Society of the Gironde, as quoted in a 

 recent British Consular Report, has published a statement 

 showing the average costs incurred last year by proprietors in 

 this department in employing the best-known remedies, viz. 

 (i) against the Phylloxera, sulphuretted carbon ; (2) against 

 mildew, the so-called Bouillie Bordelaise, a mixture of three 

 pounds of sulphate of copper with one pound of slaked lime 

 and twenty-two gallons of water ; (3) against Oidiiim, sulphur ; 

 and (4) against Anlrachnosis, a mixture of eighty pounds of 

 sulphate of iron and ten pounds of sulphate of copper. The 

 total cost of using all these remedies is said to have amounted 

 on an average to about 31J. per acre, an expense which cannot 

 be called excessive, especially when it is added that their applica- 

 tion served at the same time as a preventive against snails and 

 slugs, which also often do much damage to vines. 



Globjis contains an abstract of a paper read lately before the 

 German Scientific Association of Santiago, on the inhabitants of 

 Tierra del Fuego, by the Rev. C. Aspinall, an English mission- 

 ary who has laboured long among them. The particular tribe 

 amongst which the Ooslionia mission was established has received 

 from Mr. Bridges the name of Jahgan, from a place to the south of 

 Beagle Channel frequented by the tribe. 'J'he people usually go 

 jiaked, save for a small skin throv/n over the shoulders, but they 

 smear their bodies with a mixture of train-oil and red earth as a 

 , protection against the cold. They support themselves by hunting, 

 and at the worst feed on shell-fish. Certain disorders of the 

 digestion, arising from the latter, they cure by a fungus diet. For 



the most part they move about from place to place, without 

 any fixed abode, in bark canoes, in the centre of which a 

 fire always burns. Each canoe contains a family, the wife 

 rowing while the husband is always on the watch with his 

 javelin. He always carries three kinds of spears with him, 

 one for birds, the second for fish, and the third for crabs. 

 On landing, the woman has first of all to carry her husband 

 ashore, he holding the fire carefully above water, and then she 

 begins the erection of their primitive hut. The men are rarely 

 able to swim, but the women invariably, and this, together 

 with their constant work at rowing, gives them extraordinary 

 muscular power. To maintain their position as lords of creation 

 the men have recourse to mysterious rites, from which the women 

 are excluded. The men have usually two wives, an older and a 

 younger one. Without writing; of any kind, they yet preserve 

 many rules and customs, mainly relating to the chase. They are 

 good-natured and helpful, not addicted to lying or theft, but 

 tenacious in the defence of their rights. They have many amiable 

 traits of character. They love long stories and conversa- 

 tions, and in these a good part of their time is spent. One ot 

 their tales, of an extraordinary strong man who was made of 

 stone, and ultimately was killed by a thorn entering a vulnerable 

 s]30t in his heel, recalls the story of Achilles. Devoid of all 

 religious ideas and duties, they have a vague idea of the spirits 

 of the departed wandering about in the world, and greatly to be 

 feared. 



The additions to the Zoological Society's Gardens during the 

 past week include a Gazelle (Gazclla dorctis $,) from Egypt, pre- 

 sented by Mr. Umberto Arbib ; a Cinereous Vulture ( Fw/Z/^r 

 vtonaclnts) from Central Spain, presented by Lord Lilford ; two 

 Vinaceous Turtle Doves [Turtnr vinaceus) from West Africa, 

 presented by Mrs. Ffoulkes ; two Alligators {Alligator missis- 

 sifpicnsis) from Florida, presented by Mr. J. W. Bannehr ; 

 twenty-two Gold Fish {Carassius anratris), four Carp {CypHnus 

 carpio), British fresh waters, presented by Mr. A. H. Hastie ; 

 a Cinereous Vulture ( Vultur monachus) from;:Central Spain, a 

 Grey Parrot (Psitiacus erithacus) from West Africa, twenty-four 

 Teydean Chaffinches {Fringilla teydea) from the Canary Islands, 

 deposited ; a Globose Curassow {Crax globicerd), two Trian- 

 gular Spotted Pigeons {Columba guinea), two Cambayan Turtle 

 Doves [Ttirtur senegalensis), bred in the Gardens. 



ASTRONOMICAL PHENOMENA FOR THE 

 WEEK 1889 AUGUST 18-24. 



/T7OR the reckoning of time the civil day, commencing at 

 ^■*- Greenwich mean midnight, counting the hours on to 24, 

 is here employed.) 



At Greenwich on Augtist 18 

 Sunrises, 4h. 52m. ; souths, I2h. 3m. 35"is. ; daily decrease of 



southing, 13 '38. ; sets, I9h. 15m. : right asc. on meridian, 



gh. 51 'Im. ; decl. 12° 58' N. Sidereal Time at Sunset, 



lyh. 4m. 

 Moon (at Last Quarter August 18, iih.) rises, 22h. i8m.* ; 



souths, 5h. 39m. ; sets, I3h. 13m. : right asc. on meridian, 



3h. 26 ■4m. ; decl. 14° 48' N. 



Planet. Rises. 



h. m. 



Mercury.. 5 48 



Venus I 10 



Mars 3 2 



Jupiter 16 II 



Saturn.... 4 38 



Uranus ... 9 55 



Neptune.. 22 34 



Aug 

 22 



24 



Souths. Sets. 



h. m. h. m. 



12 46 ... 19 44 



9 II ... 17 12 



10 52 ... 18 42 



20 4 ••• 23 57 



11 59 ... 19 20 

 15 23 ... 20 51 



6 24 .. 14 14 



Indicates that the rising is that of the preceding evening. 



h. o , V 



22 ... Venus in conjunction with and i 59 south 



of the Moon. 

 18 ... Mars in conjunction with and 1° 29' south 



of the Moon. 



