Oct. 4, 1888] 



NATURE 



553 



at — 18 . In this respect, again, it differs from the tetrabromide 

 of allylene, which remains liquid when surrounded by a freezing 

 mixture. The constitution was finally proved to be CH 2 ~ 

 C— CH 2 , as expected, the tetrabromide being, consequently, 

 CH 2 Br — CBr 2 — CH 2 Br; while allylene possesses the consti- 

 tution CH 3 — C=CH, being, in fact, methyl acetylene, its 

 tetrabromide being, therefore, CH 3 — CBrj — CHBr 2 , a substance 

 very different from the tetrabromide of allene. 



Invitations have been issued to each maritime nation to send 

 one or more delegates to attend an International Maritime Con- 

 ference to meet in Washington on April 17, 1889. The 

 objects of the Conference will be to revise the regulations con- 

 cerning vessels at sea, to adopt a uniform system of signals to 

 indicate the direction in v-hich vessels are moving in fog, snow, 

 or thick weather, and at night, to convey warnings of approaching 

 storms and other important information, and to formulate regu- 

 lations for the prevention of collisions. The importance of the 

 subject is so great that a full attendance of delegates is expected. 



In the Archiv der natunvissenschaftl. I.andesdurchforschung 

 von Bbkmen, Band vi. No. 5, 1888, is a valuable memoir by 

 Prof. Franz Klapalek under the title " Untersuchungen iiber die 

 Fauna der Gewasser Bohmens, Part 1, Metamorphose der 

 Trichopteren," in which the transformations of nearly twenty 

 species of Bohemian caddis-flies are detailed, with illustrative 

 figures and copious introductory general remarks on the internal 

 and external anatomy of the larvae and pupae. The author states 

 that the larv* may be divided into two sections, which he terms 

 «* raupenfb'rmige " and " cainpodeoid" respectively, and which 

 correspond pretty nearly with the divisions " inaequipalpia " and 

 •'aequipalpia " employed by systematists for the perfect insects. 

 Prof. Klapalek has been very successful in breeding these insects, 

 a matter always attended with difficulty, more especially with 

 those forms that inhabit rapid streams and torrents. A further 

 series of observations will appear next year. 



Some interesting prehistoric remains have been discovered near 

 Basingstoke. Six urns have been disinterred, and stone imple- 

 ments of very rude form have been found in the field in immediate 

 relation with the vessels, although none have actually been dis- 

 covered buried with the pottery. The site of the interments is a 

 field adjoining Dummer Clump, a conspicuous landmark in the 

 parish of Dummer, and near Kempshott Park, the seat of Sir 

 Nelson Rycroft, who is the owner of the estate. A shepherd 

 was pitching hurdles, when the bar came in contact with a large 

 stone, which, on being removed, was found to have covered two 

 very rudely-formed vessels, of which the under one was pro- 

 nounced by Dr. S. Andrews, of Basingstoke, to contain human 

 bones which had undergone incineration. Subsequently, an- 

 other urn was removed, of a much coarser character, bearing a 

 band round the base of the rim ornamented with sunken dots. 

 All the vessels are hand-made and apparently fire-baked, and 

 the larger ones have suffered some damage from the plough, 

 which must have repeatedly passed over them. 



The new number of the Intcrnationahs Archil' fiir Ethno- 

 graphic (Band i. Heft 5) will fully maintain the reputation of 

 this excellent periodical. Among the contents are an article on 

 arrows from Torres Straits, by Dr. M. Uhle ; a note on a 

 singular mask from Boissy Island, North-East New Guinea, and 

 queries on the lizard in the folk-lore of Australasia, by Prof. 

 H. H. Giglioli ; and a paper on the chewing of the betel -nut, 

 by F. Grabowsky. The coloured illustrations, as usual, are 

 admirable. 



Fishing is to be resumed this season at the Sild oyster- 

 banks, on the coast of Jutland, which have been preserved for six 

 years. The oysters are reported to be plentiful and in splendid 

 condition. 



The additions to the Zoological Society's Gardens during 

 the past week include a Grivet Monkey (Cercopithecus griseo- 

 viridis 6 ) from North-East Africa, presented by Lord Archibald 

 Campbell ; a Rhesus Monkey {Macacus rhesus ) from India, 

 presented by Major Dudley Buckle, R. A. ; a Bonnet Monkey 

 (Macacus sinicus $) from India, presented by Mr. G. C. 

 Gosling ; two Sooty Mangabey Monkeys (Cercocebus fuliginosus 

 9 Q ) from West Africa, presented by Mr. Edward Felton, R.E. ; 

 an Ocelot (Felts pardalis <$ ) from Pernambuco, presented by 

 Mr. E. Percy Bates ; a Weka Rail ( Ocydromus australis) from 

 New Zealand, presented by Mr. H. Lindsay ; a Rose crested 

 Cockatoo (Cacatua molucccnsis) from Moluccas, presented by 

 Miss Eve ; a Puffin (Fraterctila arctica) from Cornwall, presented 

 by Mr. J. Muir Drew ; a Common Snake ( Tropidonotus natr/x), 

 a Common Slowworm (Anguis fragilis), British, presented by 

 Mr. P. S. Hutchinson ; a Common Viper (Vipcra bertts), British, 

 presented by Mr. A. H. N. Smith ; four European Tree Frogs 

 (Hylaarborea), European, presented by Mr. Lionel A. Williams ; 

 two Grivet Monkeys (Cercopithccus griseo viridis $ ) from North- 

 East Africa, deposited ; a White-backed Trumpeter (Psophia 

 Icucopierd) from the Upper Amazons, received in exchange; 

 two Collared Fruit Bats (Cynonycteris' collaris), an Axis Deer 

 (Cervus axis $ ), a Canadian Beaver (Castor canadensis), four 

 Chilian Pintails (Dafila spinicauda), bred in the Gardens. 



OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN. 



The Satellites of Mars. — These faint objects have been 

 successfully observed, during the late opposition, with the great 

 telescope of the Lick Observatory. The building operations 

 prevented the observations being carried on systematically, but 

 measures of distance and position of one or both satellites were 

 obtained on nine evenings between April 9 and April 28, and 

 Phobos was seen as late as July 18, when the theoretical bright- 

 ness of Mars was but one-tenth of what it was at the opposition 

 of 1877, or one-fifth of what it will be at the coming opposition 

 of 1890. A preliminary reduction of the observations gives the 

 following corrections to the times of elongations as given by Mr. 

 Marth in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 

 and by the American Nautical Almanac respectively : — 



Mr. Keeler, who made the observations, remarks (Astr. 

 Joum., No. 178) that, so far as his estimates of the bright- 

 ness of the satellites go, they support Prof. Pickering's conclusion 

 that Deimos is one haif-magnitu4e brighter when on the eastern 

 side of the planet than when on the western. 



Total Lunar Eclipse of January 28. — No. 4 of vol. xviii* 

 of the Annals of the Harvard College Observatory contains an 

 account of the observations made there of the eclipse of the 

 moon of January 28. The observations were of three classes — 

 first, of the occultations of Dr. Dollen's list of stars ; secondly, 

 of the variation in the actinic brightness of the moon ; and 

 thirdly, the search, by means of photography, for a possible 

 lunar satellite. In this second inquiry Mr. W. H. Pickering 

 found that the photographic brightness of the full earth was 

 236 times as great as that of the full moon, equivalent to an 

 albedo of 1 7 times that of the moon. The diminution in bright- 

 ness ascribed to the moon during eclipse is most remarkable, 

 Mr. Pickering giving the uneclipsed full moon as 1,400,000 

 times as bright as during the central phase, or about twice 

 the ratio existing between the sun and full moon. In the 

 search for the satellite a succession of photographs were 

 taken, the telescope being made to follow the moon's motion as 

 closely as possible, so that the stars were represented by short 

 trails. A satellite would have left a trad inclined to the star 

 trails and of a different length. The result of the search was 

 negative, and as a satellite of the tenth magnitude, would have 

 been registered on the plates, it appears probable that the 

 moon has no satellite more than 200 metres in diameter, unless 

 it was involved in the shadow of the earth during the eclipse, or 



