436 



NA TURE 



{Sept. 1 6, 1875 



Heis himself, with a large number by Eylert, Weber, and 

 others, and is a most valuable addition to the observa- 

 tional results bearing upon this, as yet, little-understood 

 phenomenon. We may remind the reader who is desirous 

 of fully acquainting himself with the literature of the 

 subject, that Dr. Julius Schmidt, now Director of the 

 Observatory at Athens, published in similar detail his 

 observations of the zodiacal light in the years 1843-55 

 {Das Zodiacallicht, Braunschweig, 1856). 



The next Return of Encke's Comet. — The ap- 

 pearances of this comet at nearly ten-year intervals in 

 1 819, 1829, 1838, 1848, 1858, and 1868 took place under 

 circumstances which were more or less favourable for 

 observation in this hemisphere ; these conditions, how- 

 ever, will not attend the ensuing return to perihelion, 

 which, with the mean motion found by Dr. von Asten for 

 1875, neglecting the small effect of perturbation, would 

 occur about the 27th of July, 1878 ; and if the path in the 

 heavens be calculated on this assumption, it will appear 

 that observations will hardly be practicable except in the 

 southern hemisphere in August. The nearest approach to 

 this track is that which the comet followed in 1845, when 

 a few observations only were obtained with difficulty at 

 Rome, Washington, and Philadelphia. With regard to 

 the effect of perturbation upon the length of this comet's 

 period since the year 18 19, when its periodicity was first 

 detected, it may be remarked that the longest revolution 

 was that from 1842-45, which extended to I2i5"6 days, 

 and the shortest, that from 1868-71, i20O'2 days; differ- 

 ence of extremes, 15^ days. 



Comet 1874 (III.), Coggia. — A third computation of 

 the orbit of this fine comet, founded upon observations 

 between April 20 and July 16, by Herr Geelmuyden, of 

 Lund, has resulted in an ellipse with a period of 10,445 

 years, confirming the great length of the revolution which 

 resulted from the calculations of Prof. Tietjen and Herr 

 Schulhof. There appears to be no probability of the 

 comet having previously visited these parts of space 

 within historical times. 



The Late Prof. Argelander. — The last part of 

 the Vierteljahrsschrift der Astronomischen Gesellscha/i, 

 x. Jahrgang, Drittes Heft, contains an interesting memoir 

 of this distinguished astronomer by his successor. Prof. 

 Schonfeld. As an authoritative summary of his long and 

 laborious services to sidereal astronomy in particular, 

 this memoir will be found a useful reminder. Argelander 

 was born at Memel on March 22, 1799, ^-nd died at Bonn 

 on February 17, 1875. His first astronomical observation 

 is stated to have been one of the occultation of the 

 Pleiades on August 29, 1820. 



NOTES ON A SUPPOSED MARRIAGE EM- 

 BLEM OF AMERICAN INDIAN ORIGIN 



A REMARKABLE form of " Indian relic," varying 

 somewhat in details, but having much in common, 

 and never approaching any other stone implement or 

 ornament, is occasionally met with in the " finds " of the 

 Atlantic coast States and westward to the Mississippi. 

 In New Jersey they are less abundant, I believe, than 

 in the States west and south, but a surticient number of 

 them have been gathered by myself and others to indi- 

 cate their having been, at one time, a marked feature in 

 the dress of our aborigines. 



This "relic," however varied in its outline, always 

 suggests a brooding bird, especially when in the position 

 in which it is placed in Fig. i. So far as I have 

 made examination of these specimens, and met with 

 notices of them in various publications, they are all 

 manufactured from comparatively soft stone, are accu- 

 rately outhned, highly polished, and drilled diagonally at 

 the lower comers. 



Of the many suggestions made as to their significance, 



as knife-handles, com-huskers, idols, &c., I have met 

 with but one that seemed at all probable ; and this, I 

 think, is rendered the more probable from circumstances 

 connected with the discovery of various specimens, and 

 certain peculiarities of the fragment of one here figured 

 (Fig. 2). 



Writing of one of these relics, Mr. Henry Gillman, in 

 the Smithsonian Annual Report for 1873, p. 371, states : 

 " I have learned, through an aged Indian, that in olden 



time these ornaments were worn on the heads of Indian 

 women, but only after marriage. I have thought that 

 these peculiar objects, which are always made of some 

 choice material, resemble the figure of a brooding bird ; 

 a familiar sight to the ' children of the forest ;' that thus 

 they are emblematic of maternity, and as such were 

 designed and worn." 



Fig. 2 represents the " tail end " of one of these '* brood- 

 ing birds." Probably broken by accident, whether the 

 head was lost or both halves preserved, it will be seen 

 that the specimen has been considered of considerable 

 value, inasmuch as this half has been carefully squared 

 and polished at the point of fracture, and a hole drilled 

 through it, to enable its owner to suspend her rude bracelet 

 or her necklace. Surely, had the unbroken implement (?) 

 been a knife-handle or corn-husker, the fragment such as 

 is here figured would not subsequently have been utilised 

 as an ornament. If put to so commonplace a use in its 

 entirety, a half of one would have no beauty in it, even in 



Fig. 2. Natural size.) 



the eyes of a Stone-Age savage. A second noticeable 

 feature of this broken specimen is the series of eight 

 deeply cut notches along the " back," or upper margin. 

 These are cut entirely across the narrow ridge forming 

 the back, and extend equally down either side, as seen 

 in the illustration. If an entire specimen, such as 

 is represented on the woman's head (Fig. i), is or was 

 worn on the head of an Indian woman, but only after 

 marriage, and so emblematic of maternity, then is it not 



