Feb, 2, 1888] 



NATURE 



329 



ings of wind and weather are issued to various stations ; the 

 general percentage of success for both elements during the year 

 1886 was 80. Rainfall maps for each month and for the year 

 are also given. 



We have received the Annuaire for the year 1SS8, pub- 

 lished by the Bureau des Longitudes with Messrs. Gauthier- 

 Villars, Paris. It contains, besides the tables usually expected 

 in works of this class, much useful information as to the 

 monetary systems of the various nations of the world, minera- 

 logy, meteorology, and other subjects. We may especially note 

 an excellent account, by Admiral Mouchez, of the International 

 Astronomical Congress which met in Paris in April 1887, to 

 prepare the way for the execution of a photographic chart of 

 the heavens. 



The Syndics of the Cambridge University Press have under- 

 taken the publication of a collected edition of the mathematical 

 papers of Prof. Cayley. These papers, originally contributed to 

 the Royal and other Societies and to various mathematical 

 journals, will be arranged for publication by Prof. Cayley him- 

 self, who will add notes containing references to the writings of 

 other mathematicians on allied subjects. It is expected that the 

 edition will extend to ten quarto volumes ; it is intended to 

 publish two volumes each year until the completion of the 

 work. 



"My Telescope; a Simple Introduction to the Glories of 

 the Heavens," is the title of a little half-crown work on 

 iistronomy by "A Quekett Club Man," whose kindred volumes 

 on " The Microscope" have been so successful. It will be issued 

 in a few days by Messrs. Roper and Drowley. 



A NEwr geological map of the Government of Kutais, by 

 MM. Simcnovitch and Sorokin, has been published at Tiflis by 

 the Mining Department. 



At a recent meeting of the Asiatic Society of Japan (reported 

 in the Japan Weekly Mail of November 19), Mr. Batchelor 

 read a paper on the Kaimd, or gods of the Ainos of Yezo. He 

 enumerated under thirteen heads these deities as they appear 

 to be arranged in the Aino mind. These are: (i) the 

 chief of all the deities, the possessor of heaven and the 

 maker of worlds and places ; (2) the progenitor of the Aino 

 race, and presider over the affairs of men, who is the only 

 human being worshipped by the people ; (3) the sun and moon 

 (the stars are not worshipped) ; (4) the fire-god, worshipped 

 because of its general usefulness in cooking, healing, purifying, 

 &c., — sometimes spoken of as the " messenger " or mediator 

 between gods and men; (5) the goddesses who preside over 

 springs, lakes, rivers, and waterfalls, — they are worshipped as 

 benefactors of mankind, particularly in alluring fish to ascend 

 and descend the rivers ; (6) the sea-gods, two in number, one 

 being good and one evil, — the latter is the originator of all storms, 

 and the direct cause of shipwrecks and death from drowning at 

 sea ; (7) bears, the most powerful animals known to the Ainos 

 as well as the most useful, supplying them at once with food and 

 clothing ; (8) the autumn salmon, the largest fish ascending the 

 rivers, — it is not worshipped, but the term Kamui or deity is 

 applied to it ; (9) many birds, some of good, others of ill, omen, 

 though not worshipped, are called deities. The same term is 

 applied to beautiful localities, to high mountains, to regions full 

 of bears or rivers full of fish, to large trees, to cool breezes on a 

 warm day, to men of official rank, to devils, evil spirits, and 

 reptiles. When applied to anything good, the term Kamui 

 expresses the quality of useful aess, beneficence, divinity ; when 

 applied to anything evil, it implies dread, hatefulness, and such 

 like. Applied to animals, it represents the greatest, fiercest, or 

 most useful ; to men, it is a mere title of respect. Subsequently 

 in the course of the discussion, Mr. Batchelor said that the facts 



of the Aino religion were very simply stated. They had one 

 chief god, and all the others were officers or messengers of this 

 supreme being ; there was no lightning- or thunder-god. These 

 were the facts, but he could not explain them. The Ainos, he 

 said, regarded the sun as a body in whicli a deity resides, 

 " distinguishing, so to speak, between a body and a soul." 



The fossil head of a mammoth has just been unearthed in the 

 Montmartre cemetery in Paris. The distance between the tusks 

 is nearly 2 feet. Further excavations are being made in the 

 hope that the remainder of the skeleton may be discovered. 



About 20 cwt. of bones of prehistoric animals have been 

 found in the bear cave near Riibeland, in the Harz Mountains. 

 Only a part of the cave has yet been explored. 



The University of Upsala has recently been presented with 

 the fossil skeleton of a whale, found in a layer of marl at a depth 

 of 10 feet in the province of Halland, in the south of Sweden. 

 The skeleton, which is almost perfect, is that of a whale which 

 has been called Eubalcena svedenborgii, from some portions of a 

 whale skeleton found last century in the province of West 

 Gothia, and now also in the Museum at Upsala. The 

 skeleton is the only one complete ever found. It is that of a 

 young whale. 



On January 8, about 4 p.m., a magnificent meteor was seen 

 at Porsgrund, in the south-east of Norway. It moved rapidly 

 in an easterly direction towards the constellation Taurus. It 

 was square in appearance, but the corners were rounded, the 

 colours being intense green and violet, increasing in strength as 

 the meteor disappeared behind a hill. The size was about that 

 of the full moon. No sound was heard, nor did it leave a train. 

 The passage occupied about two seconds. 



The fog which lately prevailed over our islands and the North 

 Sea extended far into the heart of Norway. 



On December 27, about n.30 p.m., a severe shock of earth- 

 quake was felt at Solum, in the province of Bratsberg, in the 

 south-east of Norway. The shock was so severe that beds 

 seemed lifted from the floor, and the occupants fled in terror 

 into the open. The shock lasted several seconds, and was 

 accompanied by several deep detonations. Large cracks were 

 afterwards seen in the earth. The motion was from east to 

 west. 



A SEVERE earthquake occurred at Algiers on January 8. It 

 was noticed throughout the whole province. In one village 

 a house fell in, and the church and the school-house were 

 damaged. 



From the Consular Report on the Trade of France for 

 1886-87, it is apparent that the desire for technical edu- 

 cation is not at present widespread throughout that country. 

 M. Lockroy, thinking that one of the great causes of the 

 depression in trade, from which France, like England, 

 has been suffering for some yeais, was the almost total 

 absence of technical education in France, and that the usual 

 i-emedies were of little or no avail unless aided by a sounder 

 education of tradesmen and merchants, founded a new depart- 

 ment in the Ministry of Commerce to supervise the carrying out 

 of his plans. By his help and that of other supporters of his 

 scheme, technical schools have so increased and multiplied, that 

 there are at present ninety of these institutions in Paris and the 

 provinces subsidized by the State. Very few of them are self-sup- 

 porting, and the number of students in attendance is lamentably 

 small. Students now, it is said, are not anxious to attend, but it is 

 thought that if technical schools received the power of conferring 

 degrees equivalent to the lower degrees in a University, the 

 students would come more readily. It is also urged that these 

 schools should be freed from Governmental control, and be 



