i6o 



NATURE 



{Dec. 19, 1878 



resemble those of South Europe; in the Eastern region they 

 offer an analogy vf ith thos* of Asiatic mountain-groupfe, influenced 

 1)y a continental climate. During the last jFew yeafs some glaciers 

 in the western half of the Caucasus have been i-etrograde, just as 

 it has been observed with those of the Alps during these last 

 tifteen years. In 1849 several Caucasian glaciers were evidently 

 advancing through ancient forests. The glacier of the Kasbek» 

 especially of Deftoraki, after having followed for some time the 

 general retrograde movement, lately began to move forward 

 again. Experience has proved, that, whenever this movement 

 reaches a certain amount, the end of the glacier is broken away, 

 and may cause serious catastrophes, as it did by stopping the 

 chief military road from Tiflis along the Terek valley to Wladi- 

 kawkas. Such observations are tlms of high practical importance. 

 The Deftoraki glacier may be paralleled with the Rosenthal and 

 Vernagt glaciers of the North Tyrol, considering their variable 

 periods and extreme alternations of progression and retrogression. 

 For further details we refer to Dr. Abich's paper in Proceed. 

 Imfer. Geol. Instit. Vienna, March 5, 1878. 



Reports come to Science Neius of a remarkable and very 

 extensive series of caves discovered in Page county, Virginia, 

 which, it is said, a scientific expedition will probably soon ex- 

 amine. Tlieir great area, variety, curious formation, and natural 

 ornaments, if the stories about them be true, are sufficient to 

 place them among the wonders of the world. 



We have received Decade I. of a " Prodromus of the Zoology 

 of Victoria, or Figures and Descriptions of the Living Species 

 of all Classes of the Victorian Indigenous Animals," by Prof, 

 F. McCoy (London : Triibner and Co.). The plates in this 

 first part are most beautifully coloured, and do infinite credit to 

 the skill of the colony. There are three plates of snakes, three 

 of fish, one of the 'giant earth-worm {Megascoluies anstralis, 

 McCoy^, one devoted to three species of the day-moth, and the 

 last two to two species of diurnal lepidoptera. 



The Commission for the Sui-vey of New York State has been 

 reappointed with an appropriation of 14,300 dollars a year. A 

 large amount of preliminary, work has been done under Mr. 

 J. S'. Gardner. 



According to a note published by the Ncrddeutsche 

 Allgcnieine Zeiiitng, Berlin time will become the only one 

 in use in the whole of the German Empii-e. ' The difference in 

 time is thirty minutes minus on the coast of the German Ocean, 

 and thirty-seven in advance in the eastern parts of Bavaria. 

 This resolution has been fostered by a similar reform lately 

 established in Sweden. 



M. Bardoux has re-organised the French Central Society of 

 Agi-iculture, which will be styled the National Society of 

 Agriculture. It will be composed of 82 ordinary members, 10 

 foreign members, 150 corresponding members in France and 

 Algeria, and 50 foreign corresponding members. The President 

 of the Republic is to be ex officio the patron of this Society, and 

 the Minister of Agriculture and Trade the honorary president. 



An earthquake was felt in Cologne and vicinity on December 

 ID at 11.35 A.M. A similar commotion was felt in the 

 provinces of Luxemburg and Namur, principally on the 

 borders of the Ardennes forest ; on the same day at 11.28 

 Brussels time. The duration of the shock was eight seconds, 

 and it was accompanied by a well-defined noise, which awoke 

 the inhabitants. On the following morning a meteor was 

 observed at six o'clock in Alsatia, from Mulhausen to Colmar. 

 A fire-ball travelling from north-west to south was seen 

 exploding, exhibiting a display of natural fire-works. No noise 

 was heard by any observer. 



At the last meeting of the Manchester Anglers' Association, 

 Mr. F. J. Faraday , F.L.S., in reading a paper on the •" Mind 



of Fisjhes," recounted an instance of apparent intelligence in a 

 skate, observed by the author while] officiating as curator of the 

 Manchester Aquarium. On the occasion in question a morsel 

 of food thrown into the tank fell directly in the angle formed by 

 the glass front and the bottom. The skate, a large specimen, 

 made several attempts to seize the food, but^ owing to the 

 position of the mouth on the under-surface of the head, and the 

 closeness of the food to the glass, he was unable to do so. He 

 lay quite still for a while " as though thinking ; " then, suddenly 

 raising himself in a. slanting posture, the head inclined upwards 

 and the under-surface of the body towards the food, the creature 

 waved his broad expanse of fins and thereby created an upward 

 current or wave in the water, which lifted the food from its 

 position and carried it straight into his mouth. 



At the Royal 'Institution a Course of Six Lectures (adapted 

 to a juvenile auditory) on a Soap Bubble, will be given by Prof. 

 Dewar, M.A., F.R.S., at 3 o'clock, on December 28, 31, 

 January 2, 4, 7, 9 (1879). 



On the New Jersey bank of the Delaware River, the skeleton 

 of a man has recently been found buried in a standing position 

 in a red sandy bluff overlooking the stream. A few inches 

 below the surface the neck bones were found, and below these 

 the rest of the skeleton except the bones of the hands and feet. 

 The skull being wanting, it could not be determined whether 

 the remains were those of an Indian or a white man ; but the 

 burial was peculiarly aboriginal. It was found that around the 

 lower extremities were placed a number of large stones, showing 

 traces of fire, together with charred wood ; and there was no 

 doubt that the bones of the feet had been burnt. Probably the 

 man had been executed as a prisoner of war, being placed erect 

 in the pit with a fire around his feet. He would appear to have 

 been then buried, with the exception of his head. The skeleton 

 when complete must have been six feet high. 



The new instalment of the Transactions of the Asiatic Society 

 of Japan contains several papers of considerable interest. Mr. 

 E. M. Satow, the Japanese Secretary of H.B.M.'s Legation at 

 Tokio, who was one of the earliest labourers in the field of 

 Japanese literature, contributes articles on the ' ' Korean Potters 

 in Satsuma," and the " Use of the Fire-Drill in Japan;" Mr. 

 Aston one on " Hideyoshi's Invasion of Korea," and Mr. R. 

 W. Atkinson ' ' Notes on the Manufacture of Oshiroi " (white 

 lead). There are also two contributions on earthquakes in 

 Japan, and notes on some of the volcanic mountains of the 

 empire. 



Peat fuel is much used at Bremen and in other parts of 

 North-western Germany, and increased attention has been paid 

 of late years to its production and preparation. We learn from 

 Consul Ward's Report that the vast tracts of marshy moors 

 ^\ hich are to be found in many parts of the German Empire, 

 and more especially between the River Elbe and the Dutch 

 frontier, are regarded as containing an immense amount of 

 wealth in tlie form of peat fuel. With the view of developing- 

 and improving the present means of producing and manufactur- 

 ing this article, and of extending its consumption to districts 

 where fuel is dear, an association was formed at Konigsberg a 

 few years ago, and was reconstituted last year at Schwerin. 

 Their intention is to diffuse technical knowledge throughout the 

 country with regard to peat production and manufacture. 



Th5 Annual Report of the Belfast Naturalists' Field Club 

 for 1876-77, contains a variety of matter, some of it of con- 

 siderable scientific interest. Tliere is a brief account of the 

 excursions in connection with the Club, embracing a good 

 deal of topographical, antiquarian, and other information. At 

 the winter session a variety of papers were read, some of which 

 are reported at greater or less length. In connection with Mr. 



