398 



NATURE 



[Feb. 23, 



The Archaeological Congress which is to be held at Moscow, 

 in 1890, will have an international character, many German, 

 French, Italian, and other men of science having already been 

 invited to attend. The Congress will consider the following 

 subjects : (l) prehistoric antiquities ; (2) historical, geo- 

 graphical, and ethnographical questions ; (3) Russian art monu- 

 ments ; (4) ecclesiastical monuments ; (5) Slavo-Russian language 

 and writing ; (6) Slavo-Byzantine and West European anti- 

 quities ; (7) Oriental and heathen antiquities ; (8) latest progress 

 of archaeology. 



Mrs. Zelta Nuttall has been elected a Fellow of the 

 American Association for the Advancement of Science in 

 recognition of her researches in Mexican archaeology. 



A TRANSLATION of Dr. E. B. Tylor's hand-book of " Anthro- 

 pology " into Spanish by D. Antonio Machado has just been 

 published in Madrid. The author contributes a special preface 

 drawing attention to the valuable anthropological material still 

 to be found in Spanish America. 



The first number of what will no doubt prove to be an im- 

 portant and valuable periodical has just been issued. It is called 

 Internationales Archiv fiir Ethnographie, and is edited by J. 

 D. E. Schmeltz, of the Ethnographical Museum of Leyden, who 

 has received promises of co-operation from many of the foremost 

 ethnologists and anthropologists in Europe and America. The 

 present number (which contains German, Dutch, and French 

 contributions) opens with a striking article, in German, by Dr. 

 L. Serrurier, Director of the Leyden Ethnographical Museum, 

 on the arrows of New Guinea. Representations of the various 

 types of New Guinea arrows, admirably printed in colours, 

 illustrate this interesting paper. 



We have received the first number of Thi American 

 Anthropologist. This new quarterly periodical is issued under 

 the auspices of the Anthropological Society of Washington, and 

 the editorial committee seek the co-operation of all who are 

 interested in the advancement of anthropological science. In 

 the first number there are papers on the law of Malthus, by Dr, 

 James C. Walling ; the development of time-keeping in Greece 

 and Rome, by F. A. Seely ; the human hand, by Dr. 

 Frank Baker ; and the Chane-abal (four-language) tribe and 

 dialect of Chiapas, by Dr. D. G. Brinton. 



The American Meteoj'ological ^otirnal for January contains : — 

 (l) An article by F. Waldo on instruments for measuring 

 atmospheric pressure, showing the differences that exist in the 

 standard barometers of different countries, and that the standards 

 do not always remain constant for a number of years. (2) A 

 paper by Prof, H. A. Hazen on the exposure of thermometers, 

 with a discussion of a new plan proposed by Dr. R. Assmann. 

 The latter paper was presented to the Berlin Academy in 

 November last. (3) On a thirty-day period of the weather, by 

 H. Helm Clayton. The writer considers that the period is 

 strongly substantiated by facts, although at present they remain 

 empirical facts. 



The Deutsche Seewarte ;has published the seventh volume 

 of the results of meteorological observations for 1° squares of 

 the North Atlantic Ocean. The object is to discuss the ob- 

 servations collected by German and Dutch vessels between 

 latitude 50° and 20° N. in the North Atlantic, adjoining the 

 district of the nine equatorial 10° squares between lati- 

 tude 2D° N. and 10* S., and longitude 10° and 40° W., the 

 observations for which have been discussed by the Meteoro- 

 logical Council. The district now covered by the two institu- 

 tions embraces 60° of latitude and 30* of longitude, with the 

 exception of one 10° square, which will shortly be pub- 

 lished. The German observations are published in a tabular 

 ibrm, showing for each degree the direction of the winds under 



sixteen points, the number of storms, the mean wind force, 

 pressure, temperature of air and sea, rainfall, and other parti- 

 culars. The number of observations for each subdivision is 

 sometimes small, but always quoted, and in their present form 

 the observations may be added to subsequently, or amalgamated 

 with those of other countries. A small but important district 

 south of 20° N. (the limit of the German investigation) and west 

 of 40° W. (the limit of the English investigation), embracing 

 the region of the origin of the West India cyclones, has yet to 

 be undertaken by some body, to complete these important con- 

 tributions to maritime meteorology. 



A NEW chloride of gold, AujC^, has been prepared by Prof. 

 Julius Thomsen, of Copenhagen {Joitrn. fiir Prakt. Chemie, 

 1888, No. 2). The method of preparation is remarkably simple, 

 gaseous chlorine being merely brought into contact with gold in 

 a fine state of subdivision and at a moderately elevated tempera' 

 ture. About 50 grammes of finely divided gold, obtained by 

 precipitating a solution of the trichloride with sulphurous acid, 

 was thoroughly washed, partially dried to the consistency of a 

 thick mud, and placed in a previously weighed glass tube. At 

 its lower end the tube was drawn out and the delivery tube of a 

 chlorine generator sealed on to it. A stopper and exit tube at 

 the upper end completed the arrangement. A rapid stream of 

 chlorine gas (half a litre per minute) was then passed through 

 the apparatus, the lower end of the wider portion containing the 

 gold being gently heated to start the reaction. The whole was 

 then placed in a glass beaker surrounded by cotton-wool in order 

 to prevent too rapid cooling, by which device the heat of the 

 reaction itself was sufficient to complete the combination. At 

 the commencement the absorption of chlorine was perfect, not a 

 bubble escaping, but at the expiration of half an hour the point 

 of saturation was reached. After expelling the uncombined 

 chlorine the tube was again weighed, and the amount of chlorine 

 thus taken up determined. In every experiment the proportion 

 of chlorine to that of gold was found to be very slightly more 

 than two to one, the average ratio being 2*09 to i"0. The slight 

 excess of chlorine was due to minute spangles of trichloride of 

 gold sparsely disseminated throughout the mass. The simplicity 

 of this mode of preparation and the constancy of the results 

 may perhaps excite wonder that Au.,Cl4 has not hitherto been as 

 well known as AuCl and AUCI3. As a matter of fact, Prof. 

 Thomsen discovered it several years ago, and published his 

 results, but owing to the adoption of different methods by later 

 workers the conclusions of Prof. Thomsen were not considered 

 confirmed. Now that the work has been repeated and com- 

 pletely verified there is no longer any reason why AU2CI4 should 

 remain in the background. It is interesting theoretically as 

 being the aurous salt of chlor-auric acid, HAuCU. 



From the Annual Report of the New York State Department 

 of Public Instruction, it appears that during last year over 

 31 ,000 teachers were employed in the State of New York, and 

 that of this number only 5821 were males. The number of 

 children of school age was 1,763,115; the total enrolment, 

 1,037,812 ; the average attendance, 625,610. Mr. Draper, the 

 Superintendent, the author of the Report, says that the attend- 

 ance in the schools does not keep pace with the growth of the 

 population, and that the uneducated class is increasing. 



Colonel Le Messurier has just brought out a third edition 

 of his useful pocket hand-book on the "Game, Shore, and Water 

 Birds of India." The utility of this unpretending little work 

 has been vouched for by the call for its re-issue in an octavo form 

 with the addition of many drawings made by the author during 

 his recent furlough in England, and we are glad to see to what 

 practical use he has turned some of Prof. Flower's exhibits at 

 the Natural History Museum. Colonel Le Messurier writes as 

 a field-naturalist fu- field-naturalists and sportsmen, without any 



