August 2, 1888] 



NA TURE 



33i 



ties in cultivated soils. We might be disposed to eliminate the 

 potash as also usually sufficiently prevalent. The fact that straw 

 is almost invariably returned to arable land is in itself a safe- 

 guard against the exhaustion of potash ; and the considerable 

 percentage found in most soils, especially those of argillaceous 

 character, points to the same conclusion. The farmer has then 

 chiefly to consider the supply of phosphates and of nitrates, and, 

 with regard to these two, Prof. Wagner thinks that the former 

 ought to be in excess of what is required, and that the farmer 

 should equally devote his attention to the proper supply and 

 application of nitrates to the soil. The recommendation that 

 phosphates should be in excess is based on the observation that 

 growth is seldom regular. It depends on climatic conditions, and 

 sometimes is arrested by drought or low temperature for two or 

 three weeks, while in well cultivated and well fertilized ground 

 vegetation makes extraordinary progress in three or four days. 

 The supply of phosphates ought therefore to be in excess of 

 what may be required under ordinary conditions of growth, and 

 should be abundant enough to supply the plant under the most 

 rapid conditions of growth. The conclusion is that phosphates 

 may be applied liberally and without hesitation or limit, i.e., 

 without scientific accuracy. The case of nitrates is different, as 

 they are so easily available and so freely mobile in the soil, that 

 the plant has no difficulty in appropriating them. The nitrates 

 probably find their way into the plant before they are required, 

 and are stored up and elaborated gradually as the plant takes up 

 further supplies of mineral nutriment. The rapidity with which 

 they disappear and their extraordinary effect mark the nitrates 

 out as the chief object of study in manuring land. , 



John Wrightson. 



THE BURIAL CUSTOMS OF THE AINOS. 



A/TR. BACHELOR, to whose investigations on the subject of 

 ■*■"■*• the , Ainos of Yezo we have frequently referred, writes, in a 

 recent issue of the Japan Weekly Mail, on the burial customs of 

 this race. He says that as soon as a person dies, a blazing fire is 

 made, the corpse is dressed in its best garments, which are neatly 

 laced up, and is laid lengthways on the right-hand side of the 

 fireplace. The relatives and friends of the deceased sit around 

 the remaining parts of the fireplace, and usually they are so 

 numerous as to fill the hut. In all cases many sacred symbols 

 (inao) are made, and placed around the hut and the dead body. 

 Mr. Bachelor has seen the corpse of a woman laid out. She 

 was well dressed, and had her utensils and paraphernalia about 

 her (the rings and beads being, in this instance, laid upon her 

 bosom), and was shod with pieces of white calico which Mrs. 

 Bachelor had, a few days previously, given to the husband of 

 the deceased to bind up his wounded foot. Any white material 

 seems to be especially welcome to the Ainos for wrapping up 

 the bodies of their dead. When the body has been properly 

 dressed, and when the necessary eating-vessels or hunting mate- 

 rials are placed in position, a cake made of millet, or a cup of 

 boiled rice and some wine, are placed by its side, and the spirit 

 of the departed is supposed to eat up the essence of these things. 

 Then the goddess of fire is implored to take charge of the spirit 

 and lead it safely to the Creator of the world and the possessor 

 of heaven, and she receives various messages to the Deity setting 

 forth the praises of the dead and extolling his many virtues. 

 Millet cakes and wine are then handed round to every member 

 of the assembled company, and each of them offers two or three 

 drops of the wine to the spirit of the dead, then drinks a little, 

 and pours what remains before the fire as an offering to the fire- 

 goddess, to whom they have not ceased to pray ; then part of 

 the millet cake is eaten, and the remainder buried in the ashes 

 on the hearth, each person burying a little piece. After the 

 burial these scraps are collected and carried out of the hut and 

 placed before the east window, which is regarded as the sacred 

 place. The corpse is then carefully rolled up in a mat, neatly 

 tied up, attached to a pole, and carried to the grave by two men. 

 The mourners follow after the corpse, in single file, each carry- 

 ing something to be buried in the grave, the men leading and 

 the women following them. The grave is from 2\ to 3^ feet 

 deep, and round the inside of it stakes are driven, and over 

 them and at the bottom of the grave mats are placed. Then 

 the body is laid in the grave, with numerous little knick- 

 knacks — cups, rings, beads, a saucepan and some clothing being 

 buried with the woman, a bow and quiver, an eating and a 

 drinking cup, tobacco, a pipe, a knife with the men, and play- 



things with the children. These things are always broken 

 before being put into the grave, and it is noticeable that they 

 are not usually the best the deceased had during life. Every- 

 thing is then closely covered with mats ; pieces of wood are 

 placed so as to form a kind of roof, and on this the earth is 

 piled. A pole is generally stuck at the foot of the grave to 

 mark the spot. No prayers are offered up during burial. The 

 mourners then return to the hut, where the men pray, make 

 inao, i.e. sacred symbols, eat, drink, and get drunk. The dead 

 body is never allowed to remain in the house longer than one 

 day ; and, once the funeral is over, the name of the departed is 

 never mentioned. 



UNIVERSITY AND ED UCA TIONAL 

 INTELLIGENCE. 



The following is the list of Scholarships, prizes, and 

 Associateships awarded in July 1888, at the Normal School of 

 Science and Royal School of Mines, South Kensington, for the 

 session 1887-88 : — 



First Year's Scholarships : Samuel H. Studley, Sydney 

 Wood, William S. Jarratt, and George N. Huntly. Second 

 Year's Scholarships : Savannah J. Speak and William Tate. 



Edward Forbes Medal and Prize of Books for Biology : 

 Arthur M. Davies. Murchison Prize of Books for Geology : 

 William Tate and Samuel Truscott. The Murchison Medal 

 was not awarded. Tyndall Prize of Books for Physics : William 

 Watson. De la Beche Medal for Mining : Edmund L. Hope. 

 Bessemer Medal and Prize of Books for Metallurgy : Harry C. 

 Jenkins. Frank Hatton Prize of Books for Chemistry : James 

 W. Rodger. 



Prizes of Books given by the Science and Art Department : — 

 Mechanics, James Whitaker ; Astronomical Physics, William S. 

 Jarratt and William Watson ; Practical Chemistry, James W. 

 Rodger and James Young ; Mining, John M. Beckwith. The 

 prize for Principles of Agriculture and Agricultural Chemistry 

 was not awarded. 



Associateships (Normal School of Science) : — Mechanics, 1st 

 Class : James Whitaker and William Kelsall. Physics, 1st Class : 

 Harry E. Hadley and Philip L. Gray; 2nd Class: Herbert 

 Anderson and Philip L. Coultas. Chemistry, 1st Class : James W. 

 Rodger, James Young, Barker North, and Harold E. Hey; 2nd 

 Class: William MacDonald, George Grace, Francis J. Hardy, 

 George C. McMurtry, and Henry Sowerbulls. Biology, 1st 

 Class : Arthur M. Davies. Geology, 1st Class : Thomas H. 

 Holland. 



Associateships (Royal School of Mines) : — Metallurgy, 1st 

 Class : Harry C. Jenkins, Thomas Clarkson, and William 

 McNiell ; 2nd Class : Alfred Howard. Mining, 1st Class : 

 Edmund L. Hope, John M. Beckwith, James A. Chalmers, 

 William F. Thomas, Sydney Allingham, Charles G. Thompson, 

 John Leechman; Frederick H. P. Creswell, Ernest Lichten- 

 burg ; 2nd Class : Ferdinand F. L. Dielyrch, Henry L. Lewis, 

 Henry B. Budgett, William F. Hamley, and Harold 

 Macandrew. 



SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. 

 London. 



Royal Society, April 26.— " On the Coagulation of the 

 Blood." Preliminary Communication. By W. D. Halliburton, 

 M.D., B. Sc, Assistant Professor of Physiology, University 

 College, London. Communicited by Prof. E. A. Schafer, 

 F.R.S. (From the Physiological Laboratory, University 

 College, London.) 



The present research was directed to determining the nature 

 of the ferment that produces the change of fibrinogen into fibrin. 



Some preliminary experiments showed that the following 

 proteids were present in lymph cells (obtained from lymphatic 

 glands). 



(1) A mucin-like proteid similar to that described by Mieschcr 

 in pus which swells up into a jelly like substance when mixed 

 with solutions of sodium chloride or magnesium sulphate. This 

 is a nucleo-albumin. 



(2) Two g'obulins. 



(3) An albumin. 



The Globulins. — There is a small quantity of a globulin which 



