372 



NATURE 



^^Feb. 20, 1890 



being removed. The Canadians are justly proud of the Univer- 

 sity of Toronto, and will no doubt provide for it even more 

 splendid buildings than those which are now in ruins. 



SiGNOR Sella's views of the Caucasus have been on exhi- 

 bition in the Royal Geographical Society's map-room since 

 Friday last, and will continue to be exhibited till the close of 

 ihe month. 



We print elsewhere Prof. David P. Todd's record of work done 

 by the U.S. Scientific Expedition to West Africa, 1889, of 

 which he was director. This is one of several bulletins printed 

 on board the U.S.S. Pensacola. 



In the engineering notes from North-West India, of Engineer- 

 ing of the 14th inst., we find a most interesting account of the 

 testing of the Chenab Bridge, near Mooltan. This bridge 

 consists partly of seventeen spans of 200 feet, which are of mild 

 steel throughout. These trusses are of the Whipple-Murphy 

 type, with raking heel posts ; the ties are at an angle of 45°, 

 and consequently the depth is a tenth of the span. In previous 

 girders of this type, made in iron, the deflection under full loads 

 was usually less than 0*0004 of the span, while here \\ inch, 

 equal to o'ooo6, obtains throughout, and in each case the 

 observed permanent set is less than \ inch in the whole thirty- 

 four girders in the viaduct. Engineering 6bsQX\QS that "there 

 is thus no question of bad workmanship either in the pieces sent 

 out from home or in the erection at site, and it is very clear that 

 steel structures, especially when so light as these spans, which 

 only weigh, with corrugated floor and all bearing and expansion 

 gear, 220 tons each, are necessarily more sensitive than those of 

 ix'on." 



The new number of the Internationales Archiv fiir Ethno- 

 graphie (Band ii. Heftvi.) opens with a valuable paper, by Prof. 

 G. Schlegel, of Leyden, on Siamese and Chinese- Siamese coins. 

 This contribution is illustrated by a coloured plate. Of the 

 other papers, the most important is an account of the Nanga of 

 the Fiji Islands, by Mr. Adolph B. Joske, Fiji. These remark- 

 able stone inclosures, now ruined, were first brought to the 

 notice of anthropologists by the Rev. Lorimer Fison, of the 

 Australasian Wesleyan Mission. Three of them have been 

 visited by Mr. Joske, and he is thus enabled to give the plan 

 of an inclosure drawn from his own measurements. His paper 

 has been edited by Baron Anatole von Hiigel, who adds in- 

 sti'uctive notes. In another paper, Prof. Giglioli gives an in- 

 teresting account of a remarkable stone axe and stone chisel in 

 use among the Chaniacocos of South-East Bolivia. 



We are glad to observe that in the Ceylon estimates for the 

 current year provision is made for an increased vote of Ks. 

 10,000 for archEEological purposes. Sir Arthur Gordon, in ex- 

 plaining the vote, said, "It is proposed to make some systematic 

 examination of the interesting remains at Sigiri, and to com- 

 mence on a modest scale, before the rapidly disappearing 

 monuments of the past have altogether perished, a species of 

 aixhaeological survey resembling that carried on in India. Such 

 an examination should be completed in about three years, and 

 the vote is proposed to cover the salai-y and travelling expenses, 

 for 1890, of the officer selected for the purpose." 



A LARGE and rich collection of specimens of amber, illus- 

 trating all the varieties found in the amber district of North 

 Germany, has lately been sent to the New York School of 

 Mines by one of its earliest graduates, Mr. H. A. Demelli, now 

 a resident of Berlin. At a recent meeting of the New York 

 Academy of Sciences, this collection was examined with great 

 interest by the members, and Dr. Newberry, the President, read 

 an instructive paper on amber. After the reading of the paper. 

 Dr. N. L. Britton spoke of the occasional occurrence of amber 

 in New Jersey, in connection with the lignites so abundant in 



the Cretaceous and Eocene beds ; and Mr. George F. Kunz 

 exhibited several specimens of American amber, one of which 

 ^from Mexico — excited much admiration. Mr. Kunz said that 

 during the last fifteen or twenty years travellers had occasion- 

 ally brought specimens of a very remarkable amber from some 

 locality in Southern Mexico. The only thing known about this 

 amber is that it is taken to the coast by natives, who report that 

 it occurs in the interior so plentifully, and in such large pieces, 

 that they use it for making fires. It is of a rich, deep golden 

 yellow, and, when viewed in different positions, it exhibits a 

 remarkably green fluorescence, like that of certain petroleums. 

 It is perfectly transparent, and, according to Mr. Kunz, even 

 moi'e beautiful than the famous so-called opalescent or green 

 amber found at Catania, Sicily. 



A FRESH illustration of the way in which foreign plants may 

 become " weeds " under new and favourable conditions is 

 afforded by Melilotus alba in the Western States of America. 

 It was introduced a few years ago as a garden-plant, and has 

 spread so rapidly in the rich bottom-lands along the Missouri 

 River that, according to Garden and Forest, it is fast driving 

 out the sunflower and other native weeds. It is commonly 

 called "Bokhara clover." 



At the meeting of the Scientific Committee of the Royal 

 Horticultural Society, on February 11, Dr. Oliver and Prof Scott 

 presented an interim report on the investigations undertaken by 

 them respecting the effects of London fogs on plants under glass. 

 Specimens of orchids affected by fog had been received from 

 j\Iessrs. Veitch and Son, Chelsea ; and of tomato plants from 

 the superintendent of the Royal Horticultural Society's gardens 

 at Chiswick. On the suggestion of the chairman, it was decided 

 that the chemical constituents of London fog should be in- 

 vestigated, and that the exciting causes of the injury to plants 

 should be traced. In order that the work might be carried out 

 under advantageous circumstances, it was resolved that applica- 

 tion should be made to the Government Grant Committee of the 

 Royal Society for pecuniary aid. 



At the same meeting of the Royal Horticultural Society's 

 Scientific Committee, Mr. McLachlan drew attention to a disease 

 in sugar-cane at St. Vincent, where in some localities about 

 25 per cent, of the crop would be lost this year. According to 

 Mr. Herbert Smith, who had examined the canes, a beetle of 

 the family Scolytidge, and the larva of a moth, were concerned. 

 It is probable that the beetles enter the canes only by the exit 

 holes of the moths, and that the moth is a widely spread species, 

 already known to attack sugar-cane in other countries. 



In the January number of the American Naturalist Mr. 

 R. E. C. Stearns begins what promises to \)e an interesting 

 series of papers on the effects of musical sounds on animals. His 

 first paper deals with "dogs and music." From his friend. 

 Prof. George Davidson, of California, he has received the fol- 

 lowing instance: — "A small black-and-tan named 'Bessie, 

 belonging to Mr. A. B. Corson, of North Fifth Street, Phila- 

 delphia, will, on hearing ' Shall we meet beyond the river ? 

 sung, throw her head back and set up a most dismal howl, while 

 the tears will run down her cheeks. If the tune is played 

 solemnly on an organ and no word spoken, the same thing will 

 occur ; but if any of the words are spoken, with not the slightest 

 musical intonation, she will run to the speaker, and beg and 

 plead in her own way, and do everything but speak, to have it 

 stojDped." 



The Annalen der Hydrographie und Maritimen Meteorologie 

 for December, published by the German Admiralty, contains an 

 interesting discussion by Dr. W. J. van Bebber, on the depend- 

 ence of the force of the winds upon the surface over which they 

 blow. It is generally admitted that the winds at sea are, under 



